Cape Town - It’s just a matter of days before the Cape Town ePrix hits South African shores for the first time, where Capetonians will get their first glimpse of what the energy-efficient sport is all about.
This is the first time Formula E will be staged in sub-Saharan Africa, so Cape Town will yet again have to put it’s best foot forward as the sporting world casts their eyes on the Mother City.
DS Penske driver Jean-Eric Vergne is in a confident mood ahead of his arrival and it’s not hard to wonder why.
The French driver won the Hyderabad ePrix, and the victory was made sweeter as it was his first in two years.
“There is one thing for sure in motorsport especially in Formula E is that you can never give up and you have to keep working very hard with all your team, staying fully motivated because you don’t know what is going to happen,” Vergne said.
“The guys in front of us have a big lead, but when you look at how many races remain this is nothing, so ... I don’t want to think about the championship, I just want to have a better car, have more performance and keep on delivering when we have a good car. That’s what I want to focus on race after race and I don’t want us to think about the championship and any other nonsense, 100% of our focus is now on Cape Town.”
Victory in India!
— Jean-Eric Vergne (@JeanEricVergne) February 11, 2023
777 incoming pic.twitter.com/VKxxKqhkDD
The momentum he gained in India is something he hopes to replicate in Cape Town next Saturday.
Vergne says he is someone who enjoys new tracks, but he won’t be overthinking what the Cape Town Street Circuit will have to offer.
“I like new tracks because you have to work fast and understand new things fast and I quite like that. Us winning on a new track (Hyderabad) doesn’t mean you are going to win at another new track. All the work has to be redone for a different track. I will come with the same mentality as in India and not overthink it, just get out there try and do the best job as possible, try and have fun at the same time and see what happens,” he said.
The Mother City isn’t something new to Vergne who has visited before. He famously raced a Formula E car against a cheetah in 2017, when he just managed to beat the fastest land animal in the world.
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