Jake Dennis has won the Sanya E-Prix from pole position after a frenetic race that featured a red flag, multiple lead changes and a raft of penalties that affected the final result.
The Andretti driver looked in control of the race until the red flag was thrown on Lap 19 after Mitch Evans and Zane Maloney came to blows at the Turn 9 hairpin. There appeared to be a track blockage, prompting the FIA to quickly suspend the race, although the drivers were able to disentangle themselves without any intervention from the marshals.
The interruption appeared to play into the hands of World Champion Oliver Rowland, who emerged as Dennis’s biggest threat thanks to having two remaining Attack Mode activations compared to Dennis’s one.
For a period after the restart, Rowland looked perfectly placed to seize victory. The Nissan driver used his energy advantage to move to the front as Dennis dropped down the order.
Rowland was ahead of Dennis and still had an Attack Mode activation to take. The Briton completed his second Attack Mode while retaining the race lead, but the pace at the front slowed towards the end of the race, allowing Dennis to rejoin the fight.
Dennis had carefully held onto his final Attack Mode for the closing stages, a decision that ultimately proved decisive. Activating the extra power late in the race, he was able to fight back past Rowland and reclaim the lead on Lap 35. The Andretti driver then checked out at the front, crossing the line to secure a commanding victory and complete a pole-to-win performance.
Andretti capped off a remarkable afternoon by securing a one-two finish, with Felipe Drugovich following his team-mate home in second place after a composed drive that kept him firmly in contention throughout the race.
The standout performance further down the order came from CUPRA KIRO’s Josep María Martí. Starting 18th on the grid, the Spaniard produced one of the drives of the season to climb 15 places and claim a sensational first Formula E podium.
During the red flag period, Martí was wheeled into the garage to repair damage sustained when his team-mate, Dan Ticktum, hit the rear of his car in the incident that brought out the stoppage. The team were unsure whether he would be able to take the restart.
He did make it back out and restarted from 18th with 17 laps remaining. Using Attack Mode to great effect, Martí charged through the field to finish third.
António Félix da Costa finished second on the road but was handed a five-second time penalty, initially dropping him to fifth. However, Nyck de Vries later received a five-second penalty of his own, promoting da Costa to fourth in the final classification.
Maximilian Günther finished fifth after using his final two Attack Modes to claim 10 championship points for DS Penske. De Vries was classified sixth after his penalty, while Nico Müller finished seventh for Porsche.
Jean-Éric Vergne, Taylor Barnard and Lucas di Grassi completed the points-paying positions.
Championship leader Mitch Evans failed to finish after the damage sustained in the collision that caused the red flag. Pascal Wehrlein was also dropped out of the points after receiving a five-second penalty for contact with Norman Nato, an incident that forced the Frenchman into retirement.
