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![]() The Diriyah E-Prix Circuit returned in 2023. | ||
Race Information | ||
Date | 27 January 2023 | |
E-Prix No. | 102 (2 of 2022/23) | |
Official Name | 2023 CORE Diriyah E-Prix I | |
Location | ![]() Diriyah, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia | |
Format | 100 km / 60 mins | |
Lap length | 2.495 km (1.550 mi) | |
Distance | 39 laps / 99.210 km (61.646 mi) | |
Qualifying Result | ||
Pole Sitter | ![]() | |
Team | ![]() | |
Time | 1:09.435 | |
Fastest Lap | ||
Driver | ![]() | |
Team | ![]() | |
Fastest Lap | 1:10.117 on lap 17 | |
ePrix Result | ||
First | Second | Third |
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Winner Team | ![]() | |
Time | 47:45.567 (125.014 km/h) | |
ePrix Guide | ||
Previous | Next | |
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The 2023 Diyiah E-Prix I, officially known as the 2023 CORE Diriyah E-Prix I was the second race of the 2022/23 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, staged on 27 January 2023 at the Ad Diriyah Street Circuit in Diriyah, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.[1] The race would see Pascal Wehrlein his and Porsche's second FE victory, after fending off the challenge of Jake Dennis in a sister Porsche run by Avalanche Andretti after both had climbed through the field during the race.[2]
Porsche's cars had not been particularly strong in qualifying ahead of the E-Prix, as Sébastien Buemi claimed pole position in a Jaguar powered Envision after defeating rookie Jake Hughes in his McLaren-Nissan.[3] Buemi's route to the final had seen him fend off challenges from both of the factory Jaguars piloted by Mitch Evans and Sam Bird in the quarter and semi finals, while Hughes had defeated Lucas di Grassi and Dan Ticktum in order to challenge for pole.[3]
There was a lot of wheelspin at the start of the race for the lead drivers, although Buemi's launch was enough into the chicane to enable him to keep Hughes at bay and hold the lead.[2] Behind Bird went toe-to-toe with Ticktum and held third, while in the midfield the #13 Porsche of António Félix da Costa was fend into the wall at the chicane, forcing him to limp around to the pits for repairs as the rest of the field got away without issue.[2]
The opening stages saw Buemi make a brief escape, aided by Bird hustling Hughes for second, until the #10 Jaguar blasted past the #5 McLaren into the chicane and duly powered back up to challenge Buemi for the lead.[2] On lap eight the factory Jaguar was down the inside of the customer Envision-Jaguar entering the chicane and into the lead, with Hughes in third unable to take advantage having been unable to keep with Bird.[2]
It was Bird's turn to escape as the field began to activate their first uses of Attack Mode, Ticktum being the first to do so from the top half of the field to drop behind Evans to seventh, although the #33 NIO was soon back ahead after an error from the New Zealander.[2] That triggered a steady trickle of drivers activating the boost, with Sacha Fenestraz showing that it was still a tricky element to master as be removed the nose of the #23 Nissan on the barriers while trying to arm the system.[2]
Amidst the first wave of AM there would be significant progress from Wehrlein and Dennis, who would jump from ninth and eleventh to third and sixth largely due to well timed use of taking the boost and well timed lunges.[2] With that Wehrlein began to size-up a move on Buemi for second, while Dennis was bearing down on his fellow Brit Hughes for fifth, who had also slipped behind teammate René Rast in the AM exchanges.[2]
With that a stalemate emerged for the middle third of the race, although there would be one significant change as Wehrlein jumped Buemi when the #16 Envision armed its first AM boost, the lead duo waiting until later to use the boost.[2] Wehrlein quickly streaked onto the back of Bird, aided greatly by a 2% energy advantage over the Jaguar by that point, although his first attempt at claiming the lead on lap 26 would end with the #94 Porsche running wide and gifting the lead back to the #10 Jaguar.[2]
Four laps later and the #94 was again slithering down the inside of the #10 Jaguar into the chicane to challenge for the lead, and this time Wehrlein would make it stick, making the corner with excellent precision before powering away on the exit to claim the lead.[2] The #94 Porsche quickly broke clear as Bird set about managing his remaining energy, albeit with the #27 Andretti of Dennis now looming large in his mirrors as Dennis had vaulted ahead of Rast and Buemi during Wehrlein's push for victory.[2]
Dennis would duly take second from Bird, a move which allowed Wehrlein to safely arm his second and final AM without losing the lead, although by that stage the #27 Andretti had an energy advantage over the #94 Porsche.[2] The final five laps would be all about Dennis' pursuit of Wehrlein, and as the pair started the final tour Dennis was in position to strike, although Wehrlein fended off any potential challenge into the first corner with ease.[2]
Wehrlein's defence would withstand the pressure from Dennis during the final tour, the #94 Porsche pilot holding a half second lead as the lead duo crossed the line to secure his first win of the campaign, and move just a point behind Dennis in the early standings.[2] Bird had slipped three seconds back in third as he collected his first podium in over a season, while Buemi was an equally lonely fourth ahead of Rast, who had claimed fastest lap mid-race.[2] Nick Cassidy was next up ahead of Jean-Éric Vergne, Hughes and Lotterer, while Evans rounded out the scorers ahead of Stoffel Vandoorne.[2]
Background[]
Two weeks after the season had opened in Mexico City the FE field would arrive at the Ad Diriyah Street Circuit in Diriyah, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia for the second round of the season, which would feature two races under the floodlights.[1] The circuit itself was unchanged for the first visit of the Generation 3 era, with the Attack Mode activation zone having remained in the middle part of the turn sixteen/seventeen chicane.[1] There was, however, a change to the grid for the second and third rounds, as a broken wrist suffered by Robin Frijns in the opening lap of the opening race had left the #4 ABT Cupra without a driver, meaning the German squad had drafted Kelvin van der Linde in to drive for them as his replacement.[1]
Brake Bonus[]
Ahead of the trip to Diriyah the FIA and FE conducted their final tests on a secondary braking system that had been called for by teams and drivers on safety grounds, after several heavy accidents had been recorded during the development phase of the Spark Generation 3.[4] The system, essentially a fail-safe in-case a driver was unable to brake due to a shutdown of the car's systems due to a component failure, would be a one-use device, intended to be used in emergencies to fully stop a car should the brake-by-wire systems were inopperable.[4] The back-up brakes were tested by all teams during the shakedown prior to the race weekend, and was developed by Magneti Marelli on behalf of the FIA, and would require a manual reset after it had been used, in order to prevent teams from using the extra braking system as a means of gaining performance.[4]
Dennis' Day[]
Victory and fastest lap on the opening day of the campaign had unsurprisingly left Jake Dennis at the head of the Championship hunt with one race down, the Brit having claimed 26 points for his efforts. Pascal Wehrlein and Lucas di Grassi were next up on eighteen points apiece, the former ahead via finishing second while third and pole contributed to di Grassi's tally, while André Lotterer and Jake Hughes completed the top five. Sébastien Buemi and António Félix da Costa were next up, while Mitch Evans, Nick Cassidy and Stoffel Vandoorne were the other scorers on the opening day.
In the Teams' Championship it was Avalanche Andretti who headed the field, the American squad leaving Mexico City with 38 points to their name after the opening bout of the season. Their suppliers Porsche occupied second on 24, while Mahindra Racing were six further back in third on eighteen. McLaren ended their debut weekend in fourth on ten points, level with Envision Racing, while Jaguar and DS Penske rounded out the day one scorers.
Entry List[]
The full entry list for the 2023 Diriyah E-Prix I is displayed below:
Practice[]
FP1[]
FP2[]
Qualifying[]
Qualifying for the 2023 Diriyah E-Prix I would be conducted according to the knockout format, introduced ahead of season eight.[6] The field would be split into two groups of eleven drivers, based on Championship position, with each group then getting ten minutes on track to complete as many laps as they wished at 220 kW.[6] The fastest eight overall would then proceed to the knockout phase, now running at the maximum 250 kW qualifying mode, with the fastest from group A against the fourth fastest from group B and so on, until four drivers were left.[6]
Those four would move on to the Semi-Final, with the winner of A1/B4 taking on the victor of A2/B3, while the triumphant driver of A3/B2 would take on A4/B1's winner.[6] The winners from those duels would then go into the final, with the winner of that duel taking pole, while the runner-up would start from second, before any grid penalties were applied.[6]
Group A[]
Group B[]
Knockouts[]
Quarter Finals[]
Semi Finals[]
Final[]
Post Qualifying[]
The final qualifying result for the 2023 Diriyah E-Prix I are outlined below:
2023 Diriyah E-Prix I Qualifying Results | |||||||
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Final | |||||||
Heat | Pos. | No. | Name | Team | Time | Gap | Grid |
I | Win | 16 | ![]() |
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1:09.435 | — | 1 |
Lose | 5 | ![]() |
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1:09.495 | +0.060s | 2 | |
Semi-Finals | |||||||
Heat | Pos. | No. | Name | Team | Time | Gap | Grid |
I | Win | 5 | ![]() |
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1:09.779 | — | F |
Lose | 33 | ![]() |
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1:10.246 | +0.467s | 4 | |
II | Win | 16 | ![]() |
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1:09.366 | — | F |
Lose | 10 | ![]() |
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1:09.462 | +0.096s | 3 | |
Quarter Finals | |||||||
Heat | Pos. | No. | Name | Team | Time | Gap | Grid |
QF 1 | Win | 33 | ![]() |
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1:09.593 | — | SF |
Lose | 8 | ![]() |
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1:10.114 | +0.521s | 8 | |
QF 2 | Win | 5 | ![]() |
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1:09.713 | — | SF |
Lose | 11 | ![]() |
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1:10.052 | +0.339s | 7 | |
QF 3 | Win | 16 | ![]() |
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1:09.790 | — | SF |
Lose | 9 | ![]() |
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1:10.039 | +0.249s | 6 | |
QF 4 | Win | 10 | ![]() |
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1:09.558 | — | SF |
Lose | 58 | ![]() |
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1:09.729 | +0.171s | 5 |
Group Stage | |||||||
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Pos. | No. | Name | Team | Time | Gap | Grid | Group |
1st | 10 | ![]() |
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1:09.942 | — | QF 4 | GB |
2nd | 16 | ![]() |
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1:10.231 | +0.289s | QF 3 | GB |
3rd | 9 | ![]() |
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1:10.245 | +0.303s | QF 3 | GB |
4th | 58 | ![]() |
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1:10.265 | +0.323s | QF 4 | GB |
5th | 5 | ![]() |
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1:10.269 | +0.327s | QF 2 | GA |
6th | 94 | ![]() |
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1:10.407 | +0.465s | 9 | GB |
7th* | 3 | ![]() |
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1:10.598 | +0.656s | 14* | GB |
8th | 8 | ![]() |
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1:10.600 | +0.658s | QF 1 | GA |
9th | 25 | ![]() |
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1:10.602 | +0.660s | 12 | GB |
10th | 36 | ![]() |
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1:10.607 | +0.665s | 15 | GB |
11th | 1 | ![]() |
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1:10.636 | +0.694s | 17 | GB |
12th | 33 | ![]() |
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1:10.661 | +0.719s | QF 1 | GA |
13th | 11 | ![]() |
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1:10.784 | +0.842s | QF 2 | GA |
14th | 37 | ![]() |
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1:10.829 | +0.887s | 10 | GA |
15th | 27 | ![]() |
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1:10.903 | +0.961s | 11 | GA |
16th | 13 | ![]() |
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1:10.940 | +0.998s | 13 | GA |
17th | 17 | ![]() |
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1:10.985 | +1.043s | 16 | GA |
18th | 4 | ![]() |
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1:11.048 | +1.106s | 19 | GB |
19th | 23 | ![]() |
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1:11.073 | +1.131s | 18 | GA |
20th | 48 | ![]() |
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1:11.708 | +1.766s | 20 | GA |
Group A 110% Time: 1:17.295[7] | |||||||
NC† | 7 | ![]() |
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1:32.982 | +23.040s | DNS† | GA |
Group B 110% Time: 1:16.936[7] | |||||||
NC‡ | 51 | ![]() |
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— | 21‡ | GB | |
Source:[7] |
- * Sette Câmara was awarded a three place grid penalty due to .[8]
- † Günther was unable to start the race due to damage sustained to his car during qualifying.[9]
- ‡ Müller was required to start from the back of the grid due to .[10]
Race[]
Report[]
Result[]
The final classification of the 2023 Diriyah E-Prix I is displayed below, with the fastest lap setter indicated in italics, and the pole sitter shown in bold.
2023 Diriyah E-Prix I Race Result | |||||||
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Pos. | No. | Name | Team | Laps | Race Time | Fastest lap | Pts. |
1st | 94 | ![]() |
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39 | 47:45.567 | 1:10.378 | 25 |
2nd | 27 | ![]() |
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39 | +0.531s | 1:10.160 | 18 |
3rd | 10 | ![]() |
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39 | +3.526s | 1:10.844 | 15 |
4th | 16 | ![]() |
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39 | +6.048s | 1:10.911 | 15 |
5th | 58 | ![]() |
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39 | +7.471s | 1:10.117 | 11 |
6th | 37 | ![]() |
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39 | +7.614s | 1:10.229 | 8 |
7th | 25 | ![]() |
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39 | +12.394s | 1:10.524 | 6 |
8th | 5 | ![]() |
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39 | +15.187s | 1:10.776 | 4 |
9th | 36 | ![]() |
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39 | +15.563s | 1:10.514 | 2 |
10th | 9 | ![]() |
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39 | +17.914s | 1:10.708 | 1 |
11th | 1 | ![]() |
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39 | +26.307s | 1:10.759 | |
12th | 17 | ![]() |
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39 | +27.070s | 1:10.418 | |
13th | 11 | ![]() |
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39 | +28.799s | 1:11.099 | |
14th | 33 | ![]() |
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39 | +37.318s | 1:11.387 | |
15th | 3 | ![]() |
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39 | +45.034s | 1:11.203 | |
16th | 4 | ![]() |
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39 | +1:00.135 | 1:11.344 | |
17th | 23 | ![]() |
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39 | +1:09.547 | 1:11.014 | |
18th | 13 | ![]() |
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38 | +1 Lap | 1:10.922 | |
19th | 8 | ![]() |
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38 | +1 Lap | 1:11.418 | |
Ret | 48 | ![]() |
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32 | Retired | 1:11.364 | |
Ret | 51 | ![]() |
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13 | Retired | 1:12.350 | |
DNS | 7 | ![]() |
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Source:[7] |
- * Evans was awarded a five second time penalty for .[11]
Milestones[]
- 100th E-Prix for Sam Bird, Sébastien Buemi and Jean-Éric Vergne.
- Pascal Wehrlein made his 50th E-Prix start.
- Debut race for Kelvin van der Linde.
- Buemi secured his fifteen pole position, which moved him ahead of Vergne for most pole positions.
- Also Buemi's first pole since the 2019 New York City E-Prix I.
- Wehrlein claimed his second victory.
- Porsche earned their second victory as an entrant.
- Also the third win for Porsche as a powertrain supplier.
Standings[]
There was just a point separating the lead duo in the Championship after the opening two races, with Jake Dennis and Pascal Wehrlein having one win and one second place apiece at the midway point of the Diriyah weekend. It was Dennis' fastest lap point in the season opener in Mexico City that had kept the Brit ahead of the German pilot, with those two 20 clear of Sébastien Buemi in third. Lucas di Grassi and Sam Bird then completed the early top five, with Bird, René Rast and Jean-Éric Vergne having been the latest drivers to add their names to the scoresheet.
In the Teams' Championship there was little surprise that the two Porsche powered teams headed the charge, with Avalanche Andretti heading the field on 58 points, nine ahead of the factory Porsche Formula E Team squad. The latter entry also held a healthy sixteen point advantage over Envision Racing in third, with the British squad having leapt up to third from fifth. McLaren and Jaguar Racing then completed the top five, sat on 25 and 20 points apiece, while Mahindra Racing and DS Penske were the only other scorers after two races.
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Only point scoring drivers and teams are shown.
References[]
Videos and Images:
References:
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Cite error: Invalid
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- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 2.15 2.16 2.17 'Porsche's Wehrlein flies to Round 2 win under the lights in Diriyah', fiaformulae.com, (FIA Formula E, 27/01/2023), https://fiaformulae.com/en/news/16268/porsche-s-wehrlein-flies-to-round-2-win-under-the-lights-in-diriyah, (Accessed 29/01/2023)
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 'Buemi wins battle of rookie and centurion for Round 2 pole in Diriyah', fiaformulae.com, (FIA Formula E, 27/01/2023), https://fiaformulae.com/en/news/16204/buemi-wins-the-battle-of-rookie-and-centurion-to-take-pole-for-round-2-in-diriyah, (Accessed 29/01/2023)
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Sam Smith, 'Two teams test Formula E’s extra brake before Saudi debut', the-race.com, (The Race, 23/01/2023), https://the-race.com/formula-e/two-teams-test-formula-es-extra-brake-before-saudi-debut/, (Accessed 04/02/2023)
- ↑ 'Mexico City E-Prix - Official Entry List', fiaformulae.com, (FIA Formula E, 13/01/2023), https://fe-results.s3.amazonaws.com/08_2022-23/01_R01%20Mexico%20City/Event%20Information/01_R01_MEX_ENTRY%20%20LIST.pdf#pdfjs.action=download, (Accessed 22/01/2023)
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 'Updated calendar, faster racing and knockout qualifying for Season 8', fiaformulae.com, (FIA Formula E, 15/10/2021), https://www.fiaformulae.com/en/news/2021/october/season-8-sporting-update, (Accessed 16/10/2021)
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 'Round 02 - 2023 CORE Diriyah E-Prix - ABB FIA Formula E World Championship: Results Booklet', results.fiaformulae.com, (FIA Formula E, 27/01/2023), https://fe-results.s3.amazonaws.com/08_2022-23/02_R02%20Diriyah/ABB%20FIA%20Formula%20E%20World%20Championship/_Event%20Booklet/ABB%20FIA%20Formula%20E%20World%20Championship_Saudi%20Arabia_BOOKLET.pdf#pdfjs.action=download, (Accessed 29/01/2023)
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
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