Erhan Jajovski off to a flyer with lights-to-flag victory in Formula E: Accelerate Round 1

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Erhan Jajovski off to a flyer with lights-to-flag victory in Formula E: Accelerate Round 1

Erhan Jajovski off to a flyer with lights-to-flag victory in Formula E: Accelerate Round 1

ROKiT Venturi Racing's Erhan Jajovski completed a superb lights-to-flag masterclass to take victory in the opening round of Formula E: Accelerate from New York City, with Manuel Biancolilla (Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler) winding up second and Kevin Siggy (BMW i Andretti Motorsport) a net third, after a post-race penalty for Graham Carroll saw the Envision Virgin Racing man miss out on a podium.

To get things underway proper and immediately set the tone for the first encounter of the Formula E: Accelerate campaign, an ultra-competitive qualifying session saw just 0.034 seconds split the top four drivers while only half a second separated the top fifteen runners.

North Macedonian Erhan Jajovski sealed pole as part of the final group of drivers, pipping Manuel Biancolilla, a runner-up in the 24 Hours of Le Mans Virtual, to top spot, whilst Graham Carroll produced a tidy lap to line-up third. Race at Home Challenge winner Kevin Siggy (BMW i Andretti Motorsport) wound up in fourth after a scrappy mid sector but a flying final sector, and Frederik Rasmussen (DRAGON / PENSKE AUTOSPORT), the qualifiers' pace-setter, could only manage 16th.

Biancolilla was the man that made the jump off the line when the lights went out, chasing Jajovksi hard after a failed attempt at a move into Turn 2 with Jajovski elbows-out and holding the inside line. The ROKiT Venturi Racing man stood fast and didn’t look back as he strung out a lead with Carroll, Siggy, Bono Huis (Mercedes-Benz EQ) and Risto Kappet (NIO 333) rounding out the top six.

 

The lead pair went early with their first dose of ATTACK MODE on Lap 3 in an attempt to pull clear of the chasing pack, and that duo looked to have a handle on energy management early on, too. Despite Jajovski and Biancolilla’s trip through the activation loop, the Envision Virgin Racing e-tron FE07 of Carroll wouldn’t be shaken off.

The Scot jumped into ATTACK MODE himself on Lap 5 and made a tidy move up the inside of Biancolilla stick for second. From there, the Italian slipped down the order with Siggy and Huis following Carroll by.

Race at Home Challenge winner Siggy, now third, put the squeeze on second-placed Carroll almost immediately. With the extra helping of ATTACK MODE power, the Slovenian sliced beyond Carroll at the Manhattan Hairpin on Lap 7 but this fight was far from over.

Roles were reversed as the clock ticked inside the final quarter-hour, with the battle for second the most hotly-contested out on track. Carroll managed to repay the favour on Lap 10, around the outside of Turn 11, though Siggy bit back and was able to retain second spot. Forced into all sorts of shapes to keep Carroll behind, the BMW i Andretti Motorsport racer was now three percent of his remaining usable energy shy of leader’s benchmark, and with energy dwindling relative to those around him, Siggy could only hold on another lap – with Carroll getting the move done for second spot into Turn 1 on Lap 13.

Out front, Jajovski looked serene. Not only did the 2020 BMW SIM Live champion have some four seconds over those behind, but he also had an extra couple of percent of his usable energy in his pocket over the chasing duo. With ten minutes to go, the race looked to be his to lose.

In behind, Huis, Biancollilla, Kappet, Marius Golombeck (TAG Heuer Porsche), Jarno Opmeer (Mercedes-Benz EQ), Jan von der Heyde (Nissan e.dams) and teammate Marc Gassner rounded out the top ten and looked to be running in pairs. Opmeer, once part of the Renault Junior Academy, did pinch seventh spot from Golombeck, though, thanks to a clean move up the inside of the Porsche man into Turn 1.

 

With less than five minutes to run, Mercedes-Benz EQ’s Huis started to reel in Siggy and had more than an eye on that final berth on the podium. The Dutchman had kept his second ATTACK MODE activation back and chose to head through the zone as the race entered its final three minutes, with Siggy’s BMW the target.

The Maastricht-born racer made a magical move stick around the outside of the Slovenian's iFE.21 into the left of Turn 16 which allowed him to sneak up the inside into Turn 17 – a move that had Sam Bird in the commentary box full of praise.

Opmeer had made further progress just behind, dispatching Kappet for sixth and had joined Biancolilla in the chase for the final step of the podium with Siggy now in fourth, just behind Huis.

Incredibly, Biancolilla, who was last of the front-runners to use the second of his additional 35kW boosts, now looked best placed to profit. Huis made an error that left the door open for Siggy to briefly retake third as he duly accepted the invite into Turn 1, with Biancolilla's Audi following in close company. With that ATTACK MODE still active, the Italian then flew beyond Siggy for third half way around the final lap of the race - employing his gameplan to perfection

Jajovski – nicknamed the GOAT of rFactor 2 this past week in the Formula E: Accelerate Discord among his peers – was unstoppable, in his own race out front. He crossed the line some seven seconds ahead of Carroll in second on-track but a post-race penalty by the addition of 10 seconds to the Scot's race time for an incident involving Siggy on Lap 1 saw him demoted to 13th in the classification.

Biancolilla's breathless last-gasp manoeuvre was enough for a net second with Siggy rounding out the rostrum after a race that ebbed and flowed. 

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Huis eventually came home fourth with Marius Golombeck, Opmeer, Marc Gassner, Kappet, Rasmussen and von der Heyde completing the points-paying positions.

“The start was really tricky,” said Jajovski. “The gaps were so small in qualifying and it was incredibly tight. Biancolilla had a strong start. I tried to cover him off and he came alongside me. I had a better line so I stuck to my position and held on. The guys behind battled among themselves which made my day so much easier.”

Jajovski will head into Round 2 and Hong Kong next Thursday evening atop the Drivers’ standings, with Venturi heading the way in the Teams’ running.