Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
Round 6 of 10 in the Jaguar I-PACE eTROPHY
Paris E-Prix – Paris, France
RACE NOTES AND QUOTES
SELLERS CLAIMED THE POINTS LEAD AFTER BECOMING FIRST JAGUAR I-PACE eTROPHY REPEAT WINNER WITH VICTORY FROM POLE IN THE PARIS E-PRIX; LEGGE CHALLENGED FOR SECOND BUT FINISHED 10TH IN CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS
KATHERINE LEGGE, No. 3 Jaguar I-PACE eTROPHY entry: “Congrats to Bryan on being the first repeat winner. I’m obviously very disappointed as I think we should have had a podium. In a way it’s my fault for not qualifying better. It’s a shame for the points because now I’m not just relying on my points, but what other people do as well. I made a move around the outside and had a good start. Then later Caca crashed into the wall and he and Rzadzinski were fighting and I just chose the outside line thinking it was pretty safe but Caca had a puncture, couldn’t turn and ran into me.”
FAST FACTS: The race started in light sprinkles which progressed to hail and later rain. At the start, Legge passed Jimenez on the outside of the first turn for fourth place. After a caution for debris, Legge held her positon on the restart. Rain began to fall more heavily and with 17 minutes plus one lap left, she slid into the wall on the slick track and damaged her left rear panel but maintained her position while under attack by Jimenez. A few minutes later, hail brought out the Safety Car for three minutes and once the race restarted, second place Bueno made contact with the wall and came under attack from third place Rzadzinski. While they were battling each other, Legge went around the outside of Bueno to take second but Bueno didn’t make the right-handed corner and drove into the wall, which left Legge nowhere to go. She backed up and was able to resume after the field passed and ran 10th. With 10 minutes to go, the Safety Car came out again and with three minutes left on the clock, it was determined the race would end early due to barrier damage… Legge maintained her fourth place rank in the point standings but dropped from a pre-race deficit of 10 points to -20 to new leader Sellers (82-62) with four races to go.
BRYAN SELLERS, No. 6 Jaguar I-PACE eTROPHY entry: “It feels good to win. To be honest, I’m glad those conditions are over. It’s slippery and I’m sure the FE guys following us are going to have their hands full in their race. It’s always an honor to race against guys like these. You are competing against big names, guys like Sergio Jimenez, Caca Bueno, Stefan Rzadzinski, Katherine Legge, the list goes on. You fight week in and week out and I’m just happy to be able to complete one. (On being aware of the action behind:) I was pretty aware because I almost did the same thing they were all doing. It’s like a blessing and a curse when you’re up front because you’re the first one to go through it all so they can all judge from what you are doing and if you make it they can take a little bit more risk. I could definitely see what was happening behind. It’s unfortunate for Caca (Bueno), because coming onto the front straight there was extremely slippery and on that restart I almost did the same thing but was a little more fortunate than he was. It was really tough conditions. (On holding off Bueno:) A guy like Caca doesn’t achieve what he’s achieved because he’s lazy behind the wheel. You knew he was going to come with some sort of aggression and try and make a move. For me, step 1 was obviously getting that start done and obviously knowing that the rain conditions were coming. I had to check that box. If I gave him any opportunity, I know he was going to go for it. You have to defend, you have to be prepared. From there, you just have to manage the race.”
FAST FACTS: Sellers won his first pole in the series in a tight battle throughout the top-five. In the race, he held off second place Caca Bueno in conditions that included light rain, hail and heavier rain before Bueno made contact on the slick track and came under attack by Rzadzinski and Legge with 12 minutes to go. Ultimately the race ended early with three minutes to go when it was determined that the barrier Bueno hit required more repair than time allowed. Sellers became the first repeat winner in series history after driving to victory in Hong Kong in Round 3… In Sanya, Sellers would have taken the series point standing lead with third place but dropped to third with his pre-race tally of 46 points. After his second place finish in Rome, he moved up to second with 61 points to new points leader and Rome race winner Sergio Jimenez, who had 66. After his win in Paris, he took the points lead with 82 points, over Jimenez, 77, and Evans, 68. Teammate Legge is fourth with 62.
NEXT UP: Round 7 of 10 in the Jaguar I-PACE eTROPHY will take place in Monaco on May 11, 2019.