On the road to London: Jérôme d’Ambrosio
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Following on from a first season that kicked into life after a win in Berlin, and saw him finish fourth in the overall standings, expectations were high that Jérôme d’Ambrosio would be one of the key title contenders in the second season.
While he and team-mate Loïc Duval have both shown front-running pace on numerous occasions in the Venturi-powered Dragon car, neither one has been able to mount a consistent title challenge this season. One win has gone d’Ambrosio’s way, but a lot of other races ended in disappointment. He finds himself P4 in the championship, the same position he finished in last season, but is no longer in mathematical contention for the title.
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Beijing didn’t start too well for d’Ambrosio, as he only managed to qualify down in P10. However he fought hard in the race and, helped by the timing of a full course yellow, eventually finished in P5 behind team-mate Duval, after a hard fight between the two Dragon cars.
Putrajaya was next up, with d’Ambrosio lining up P7 on the grid, once again out-qualified by Duval. Showing great battery management skills and a cool head, d’Ambrosio managed to move all the way up to P2 after Duval’s suspension failed. Unfortunately d’Ambrosio’s race would have the same ending: just one lap from the end, his suspension failed too, robbing him of a podium finish and eliminating him from the race.
Dragon Racing took a 1-2 in qualifying ahead of the Punta del Este ePrix, with d’Ambrosio shading his team-mate to take pole in Uruguay. He made a good start and was able to defend that position in the early stages, while Duval fell back behind. A hard-charging Sebastien Buemi made his way through the field and eventually passed d’Ambrosio for the lead of the race. Both Dragon cars then lost time in the pits, allowing Lucas di Grassi to move up into P2. Ultimately. d’Ambrosio had to settle for third place, which was his first podium of the season.
Buenos Aires was next up, with the Belgian looking to maintain the strong form that saw him take pole and a podium in Uruguay. However he only managed to qualify 10th, It never really clicked for him in the race, as he suffered issues with his rear wheels and had to make an unplanned pit stop. He eventually finished P16, a lap down on the leaders.
Next up was Mexico City, the first new race on the calendar in season 2. For the second time this season, d’Ambrosio put the car on pole, handling the pressure best in the Super Pole session. He made a good start to the race and was able to keep Nicolas Prost behind him, maintaining the lead. After the car swaps, however, he was overtaken by Lucas di Grassi, losing the lead to the Brazilian. Drama would then follow as Sebastien Buemi tried to pass d’Ambrosio for P2: the Belgian defended hard against the aggressive Buemi, who damaged his front wing as he hit the back of d’Ambrosio’s car. More drama followed as Buemi cut a chicane to pass d’Ambrosio; the Belgian then retook the position by cutting a chicane himself. After all that chaos, d’Ambrosio finished P2 on track. However history would repeat itself: just like in Berlin 2015, Lucas di Grassi was excluded for a technical infringement, and it was second placed Jerome d’Ambrosio who was promoted to P1, and thus won the Mexico City ePrix.
After the excitement of Mexico, Formula E arrived in Long Beach for Dragon Racing’s home event. A slightly disappointing 9th on the grid meant d’Ambrosio started the race on the back foot, but in the hunt for strong points. After a wheel to wheel battle with Jean-Eric Vergne, d’Ambrosio was able to stay ahead of the DS Virgin driver. He endured a quiet race after this, coming home in P7 to score six points.
Formula E hit Europe for the first time with the Paris ePrix, but the Belgian driver did not have a day to remember in the French capital. He was always on the back foot after his car broke down in FP1, meaning he was behind on track time compared to the rest of the field. Always playing catch-up, he qualified eleventh but dropped two places at the start, and spent the whole race getting those two positions back. He finished P11, right where he started, and was unable to take advantage of his team giving him the quickest car swap of anyone in the race.
Berlin followed, the site of d’Ambrosio’s maiden win last season (albeit at a different circuit to this year’s event). However any hopes of a repeat were dashed when he received a grid penalty due to irregular tyre pressures, putting him dead last on the grid. He struggled in the race, stopping twice and limping home in P16.
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It has been a topsy turvy season for the Belgian, with front-running pace often shown but a mixture of inconsistency and bad luck meaning he hasn’t achieved the strong results that would have been expected at some tracks.
He arrived in London last season P5 in the championship, and took two second place finishes to move up to fourth in the final standings. He comes to Battersea Park this season already P4 in the standings – can he repeat his strong form and overhaul Sam Bird for third overall? The British driver is 18 points ahead, so it will take some doing – but d’Ambrosio already showed during the last two seasons that, when on form, he is one of the absolute best drivers in the field.
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Images courtesy of Rajan Jangda
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