It was the Thursday earlier than the London ePrix, the 2023 Components E season finale, and championship chief Jake Dennis didn’t appear terribly perturbed. He’d introduced his canine, Billy, to discover the paddock, and he’d simply accomplished an interview with the published group earlier than he joined me on the pit wall in entrance of Avalanche Andretti’s storage. Based on Dennis, this weekend could be like every other — though he’d be chasing down his first championship in 13 years.
(Full disclosure: Components E invited me to London for the 2023 season finale double header. It additionally organized interview for me, together with this one with Jake Dennis.)
“It may change Saturday morning, however I’m fairly relaxed for the time being,” Dennis advised me. In any case, his season had gone nicely to that time: regardless of solely securing two race wins — one in Mexico and one in Rome — Dennis’ constant means to attain podiums and factors had given him a agency lead over rivals like Nick Cassidy and Mitch Evans.
However based on Dennis, he was in a position to hold calm as a result of he’d been on this state of affairs earlier than, heading into the tip of a season as a factors chief, able to pounce on a title. In truth, Dennis had even gone as far as to win that title. There was only one downside: It was a karting championship, and he’d taken that single title again in 2010.
That didn’t appear to section the motive force within the slightest.
“Proper now, it’s the identical strategy,” he mentioned once I requested about his preparation for the season finale. “The identical homework, the identical simulator work. We simply wish to make it as constant as potential and take it session by session.”
Behind that informal angle, although, was a stress that Dennis didn’t even appear conscious of.
“It will be a reduction,” he mentioned of successful the Components E championship. “You set in all this effort, all this tough work, and to get one thing again — extra than simply race wins or podiums — could be one thing particular.
“13 years is a very long time.”
The laid-back mindset labored for Dennis. Title rival Mitch Evans certified on the entrance row for Saturday’s race, however a lingering five-place grid penalty dropped him down the beginning order. Nick Cassidy, Dennis’ different title rival, due to this fact inherited pole place after qualifying second. After the chaos of a crash, a short purple flag, and a time penalty for one of many drivers on the rostrum, Dennis was promoted to second place within the race — sufficient to grant him a World Championship. He grew to become the primary British World Champion in Components E historical past, and secured the primary driver title for Andretti, which has been a part of the game since its inception.
“After the primary purple flag, I felt like the entire race was caving in towards me,” Dennis mentioned in a press convention after Saturday’s ePrix. “It’s not fairly often you get to race at this excessive degree in entrance of this many followers and your loved ones with no stress. I’ll simply take pleasure in tomorrow — simply circle on the again.”