Coming into Season 7, Jake Dennis was perhaps seen as something of an outside shot for a factory drive, but he soon repaid BMW's faith by checking off a debut victory at Round 6 back in Valencia - winning in a seemingly impossible lights-to-flag fashion in a race that no one wanted to lead.
Six races down the line in London on Saturday, the British rookie again demonstrated another tactical masterclass and his prowess with energy management, including being notably highlighted as one of the top drivers on regen via a broadcast graphic during the race.
REPORT: Brit Jake Dennis gets the job done on home soil with victory in the Heineken® London E-Prix
Starting from second on the grid behind Mahindra Racing's Alex Lynn, Dennis shadowed his compatriot during the first ATTACK MODE stint and then took control of the race when Lynn went for his second activation. With Lynn all over his rear diffuser, Dennis remained cool under pressure, and it was his British rival who would make a mistake, locking up at Turn 10 on lap 18.
This was enough for the BMW i Andretti Motorsport driver to open up a comfortable gap to start his second run in ATTACK MODE without trouble or a loss of position. Dennis then proceeded to extend his lead out ahead of Lynn, crossing the line with a tremendous 5.3-second advantage.
Now with two wins to his name, the most of any Formula E rookie outside of the inaugural season, Dennis was beaming after the win: "After such a strong qualifying, to now get the win is just sensational. I made a special helmet for this weekend, a British helmet and I'm just over the moon.
"It was a brilliant job by the whole team. We took a risk with the strategy, we could have played it safe but we felt like we had a better pace than (Mahindra's Alex Lynn) and it paid off.
"Because it wasn't such an energy-limiting race, I could do five laps fully pushing and this allowed me to create the gap to Lynn.
"After I saw him make a mistake at turn 10, I thought 'here we go for the win'. I just needed three qualifying pace laps and managed to do it and get that two-second gap and take the win. I'm over the moon."
This home race special turned out to be a lucky helmet for @JakeDennis19🙌
— ABB FIA Formula E World Championship (@FIAFormulaE) July 24, 2021
🇬🇧 2021 @Heineken#LondonEPrixpic.twitter.com/6fqhOIRWLP
In the title hunt heading to BMW's home turf
Dennis' Saturday victory propelled the Brit to second in the Drivers' standings and into Group 1 for race two in London. With a touch of rain hitting the opening pack of qualifiers, Dennis only managed to qualify in 17th on the grid.
With the pace under his feet from race one, Dennis quickly carved his way through the field to seventh but was shuffled back to ninth after serving a drive-through penalty for exceeding the maximum power allowed out of the RESS (Rechargeable Energy Storage System).
Eventful race. 17th to 7th then a drive through out of my control dropped us back to 10th. Insane pace once again. Just a little disappointed to loose out on the points.
— Jake Dennis (@JakeDennis19) July 25, 2021
⠀#LondonEPrix#BMW#AndrettiAutosport#JD27#racingbeyond#ABBFormulaEpic.twitter.com/Xo4JP08uHj
Despite this setback, the BMW i Andretti driver is still well-placed in fifth in the championship table and heads to the double header finale in Berlin just 14 points shy from Nyck de Vries (Mercedes-EQ) at the head of the Drivers' standings.
With a maximum of 60 points on the table for the final two races at the historic Berlin Tempelhof Airport on August 15th and 16th, the chance of being Formula E's first-ever FIA World Champion is still all to play for.
Make sure to sync your calendar so you don't miss a moment of the action, it's going to be a spectacular season-finale.