2019 Hong Kong eTrophy Race

2019 Hong Kong eTrophy Race
The Hong Kong E-Prix circuit.
Race Information
Date	10 March 2019
Official Name	2019 Jaguar I-Pace eTrophy Hong Kong Race
Location	Hong Kong Harbourfront Circuit, Hong Kong
Lap length	1.860 km (1.156 mi)
Distance	19 laps / 35.340 km (21.959 mi)
Supporting	2019 Hong Kong E-Prix
Qualifying Result
Pole Sitter	Cacá Bueno
Team	Jaguar Brazil Racing
Time	1:21.203
Fastest Lap
Driver	Bryan Sellers
Team	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
Fastest Lap	1:21.657 on lap 18
eTrophy Result
First	Second	Third
Bryan Sellers	Katherine Legge	Sérgio Jimenez
Winner Team	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
Time	27:15.706
eTrophy Guide
Previous		Next
2019 Mexico City eTrophy Race		2019 Sanya eTrophy Race

The 2019 Hong Kong eTrophy Race, officially known as the 2019 Jaguar I-Pace eTrophy Hong Kong Race, was the third round of the 2018/19 FIA Jaguar I-Pace eTrophy, staged at the Hong Kong Harbourfront Circuit in Hong Kong, China, on the 10 March 2019. The racewas the first eTrophy round to be held in Asia, with Katherine Legge arriving as the Championship leader.

Qualifying would see Brazilian racer Cacá Bueno grab pole position, in spite of the treacherously slippery conditions caused by rain ahead of the session. His effort of 1:21.203 ensured that he beat Bryan Sellers by over three tenths of a second, while Championship leader Legge would start from fifth.

Bueno duly led Sellers away from the grid to grab an early lead at the start of a damp race, while a charging Legge leapt from fifth to third with a well timed lunge. A similar lunge would also carry Sérgio Jimenez up from the back of the field, while Célia Martin emerged at the head of the PRO-Am field in the resulting shuffle.

Jimenez's charge continued throughout the early stages, with the Brazilian soon back up with the PRO field as they broke away from the PRO-Am runners. Martin was hence left to be elbowed out of her lead by Yaqi Zhang and Bandar Alesayi, while Stefan Rzadzinski became an early retirement after picking up a large amount of damage in the early bumping and barging.

Out front, meanwhile, Bueno was not coping well with the changing conditions, with the Brazilian struggling to keep up his pace as the circuit dried. Indeed, a lock-up at turn one would end his hopes of victory, with Bueno tumbling from first to sixth as he slid down the escape road.

Sellers was hence gifted the lead from teammate Legge, with the duo easily able to pull clear of the chasing PRO pack once the Brazilian was out of the way. Indeed, the only pause during their charge came as a result of a full course yellow, thrown when Qi Lin and Ahmed Bin Khanen crashed into one-another.

With the two RLLRs out of reach the race became a fight for third, with Jimenez barging his way past Bueno, Darryl O'Young and Simon Evans in the closing stages, although damage allowed the Kiwi to sneak back ahead. Indeed, it took until the final corner for the fight for third to be resolved, with Jimenez elbowing Evans into the barriers to grab the final podium spot.

Out front, meanwhile, Sellers claimed a comfortable victory from teammate Legge to secure the Championship lead, while Jimenez retained third after a post-race investigation. Victory in PRO-Am, meanwhile, would go to Zhang, although Alesayi was able to retain his hold on the Championship lead with second.

Background

Hong Kong was selected to host the third round of the 2018/19 Jaguar I-Pace eTrophy Season, organised in support of the 2019 Hong Kong E-Prix arranged for the ABB FIA Formula E Championship. The circuit itself would be unchanged for the eTrophy field, with wider streets of the circuit ensuring that the eTrophy cars would have enough room to fight each other. In terms of the entry list there was to be a new face in the "Guest" car, with Hong Kong based racer Darryl O'Young set to make his debut.

Into the Championship and victory last time out had ensured that Katherine Legge headed the PRO field after the opening two rounds, although she only held a one-point advantage over the rest of the field. Indeed, no fewer than three drivers were within a point of the Brit, with Simon Evans, Sérgio Jimenez and Bryan Sellers all level on 26 points, although Evans was officially ahead courtesy of his victory in Ad Diriyah.

It was a far simpler picture in the PRO-Am Championship, for two victories in two races had left Bandar Alesayi in command, the Saudi racer having left Mexico with an eleven point lead. His teammate Ahmed Bin Khanen was a secure second, with a huge gap back to Tao Wang and Qi Lin, who were tied for third on eleven points. Yaqi Zhang and Célia Martin, meanwhile, failed to score having retired during the Mexico race and hence arrived a long way off the lead.

Entry List

The full entry list for the 2019 Hong Kong eTrophy Race is displayed below:

2019 Hong Kong eTrophy Race Entry List
No.	Name	Entrant	Constructor	Car
0	Cacá Bueno	Jaguar Brazil Racing	Jaguar	I-Pace eTrophy
1	Darryl O'Young	Jaguar VIP Car	Jaguar	I-Pace eTrophy
3	Katherine Legge	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	Jaguar	I-Pace eTrophy
6	Bryan Sellers	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	Jaguar	I-Pace eTrophy
7	Célia Martin	Viessman Jaguar Team Germany	Jaguar	I-Pace eTrophy
8	Tao Wang	Team China	Jaguar	I-Pace eTrophy
9	Yaqi Zhang	Team China	Jaguar	I-Pace eTrophy
10	Sérgio Jimenez	Jaguar Brazil Racing	Jaguar	I-Pace eTrophy
12	Bandar Alesayi	Saudi Racing	Jaguar	I-Pace eTrophy
24	Ahmed Bin Khanen	Saudi Racing	Jaguar	I-Pace eTrophy
99	Simon Evans	Team Asia New Zealand	Jaguar	I-Pace eTrophy
Source:

Qualifying

Post Qualifying

The final qualifying result for the 2019 Hong Kong eTrophy Race are outlined below:

2019 Hong Kong eTrophy Race Qualifying Result
Pos.	No.	Name	Team	Time	Gap	Grid
1st	0	Cacá Bueno	Jaguar Brazil Racing	1:21.203	—	1
2nd	6	Bryan Sellers	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	1:21.530	+0.327s	2
3rd	99	Simon Evans	Team Asia New Zealand	1:21.578	+0.375s	3
4th	18	Stefan Rzadzinski	TWR Techeetah	1:21.581	+0.378s	4
5th	3	Katherine Legge	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	1:21.680	+0.477s	5
6th	9	Yaqi Zhang	Jaguar China Racing	1:21.900	+0.697s	6
7th	1	Darryl O'Young	Jaguar VIP Car	1:22.034	+0.831s	7
8th	12	Bandar Alesayi	Saudi Racing	1:22.711	+1.508s	8
9th	24	Ahmed Bin Khanen	Saudi Racing	1:23.108	+1.905s	9
10th	7	Célia Martin	Viessmann Team Germany	1:23.222	+2.019s	10
11th	11	Qi Lin	Jaguar China Racing	1:23.326	+2.123s	11
110% Time: 1:29.323
NC*	10	Sérgio Jimenez	Jaguar Brazil Racing	—		12
Source:

• * Jimenez failed to set a representative lap time.

Race

Result

The final classification of the 2019 Hong Kong eTrophy Race is displayed below, with the fastest lap setter indicated in italics, and the pole sitter shown in bold.

2019 Hong Kong eTrophy Race Race Result
Pos.	No.	Name	Team	Laps	Race Time	Fastest lap	Pts.
1st	6	Bryan Sellers	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	19	27:15.706	1:21.657	20
2nd	3	Katherine Legge	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	19	+3.369s	1:21.993	15
3rd	10	Sérgio Jimenez	Jaguar Brazil Racing	19	+4.033s	1:21.938	11
4th	99	Simon Evans	Team Asia New Zealand	19	+4.170s	1:21.801	8
5th	0	Cacá Bueno	Jaguar Brazil Racing	19	+4.338s	1:21.893	7
6th	1	Darryl O'Young	Jaguar VIP Car	19	+5.249s	1:21.952
7th	9	Yaqi Zhang	Jaguar China Racing	19	+5.566s	1:21.896	21
8th	12	Bandar Alesayi	Saudi Racing	19	+50.194s	1:23.631	15
9th	7	Célia Martin	Viessmann Team Germany	19	+50.434s	1:22.169	11
Ret	24	Ahmed Bin Khanen	Saudi Racing	11	Damage	1:25.333
Ret	11	Qi Lin	Jaguar China Racing	8	Accident	1:28.800
Ret	18	Stefan Rzadzinski	TWR Techeetah	5	Damage	1:25.611
Source:

Milestones

• First Jaguar I-Pace eTrophy race to be staged in Hong Kong.
• Debut race for Darryl O'Young.
• Maiden pole position for Cacá Bueno.
  • Also the first pole for Jaguar Brazil Racing.
• Maiden victory for Bryan Sellers.
  • Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing claimed their second victory.
• Katherine Legge secured RLLR's fifth podium finish.
• Maiden PRO-Am win for Yaqi Zhang.
  • Also the first PRO-Am win for Jaguar China Racing.

Standings

Victory in Hong Kong ensured that Bryan Sellers moved to the head of the PRO Championship field, the American ace establishing a four point lead over teammmate Katherine Legge. Their closest challenger remained Sérgio Jimenez heading to Sanya, with the Brazilian a further five off of Legge's 42 point tally. Simon Evans was next having failed to stand on the podium since Ad Diriyah, while Cacá Bueno and Stefan Rzadzinski were still awaiting their first podium finishes.

Bandar Alesayi, meanwhile, had retained the lead in the PRO-Am field in Hong Kong, despite being beaten to victory for the first time. Indeed, PRO-Am race winner Yaqi Zhang had only climbed to third after his maiden triumph, although was just a point behind Alesayi's teammate Ahmed Bin Khanen in the title hunt. Elsewhere, Célia Martin had moved off the foot of the table with her strong finish, leaving Qi Ling and Tao Wang level on eleven at the bottom of the pile.

 

2018/19 PRO Championship Pos. Name Pts. +/- 1st Bryan Sellers 46 ▲3 2nd Katherine Legge 42 ▼1 3rd Sérgio Jimenez 37 ◄0 4th Simon Evans 34 ▼2 5th Cacá Bueno 23 ◄0 6th Stefan Rzadzinski 5 ◄0

2018/19 PRO/AM Championship Pos. Name Pts. +/- 1st Bandar Alesayi 56 ◄0 2nd Ahmed Bin Khanen 30 ◄0 3rd Yaqi Zhang 29 ▲2 4th Célia Martin 17 ▲2 5th Qi Lin 11 ▼1 6th Tao Wang 11 ▼3

Only point scoring drivers and teams are shown.

References

Videos and Images:

References: