Smart Charge and Darryl O’Young complete a successful home race in the Jaguar I-PACE eTROPHY as part of the 2019 Hong Kong E-Prix. Despite going into the weekend with no prior experience with the car, O’Young improved in every session having adapted quickly in challenging wet conditions, displaying a fighting performance at his maiden race in an electric car in Hong Kong to finish P6 overall.
Qualifying Result – P7 [1:22.034]
Qualifying began under overcast and wet conditions and O’Young began the session by immediately setting personal best laps, going faster throughout the session despite the changing conditions. As he improved and was on his best lap, he came up against traffic and lost time in the final sector. Unfortunately, due to the high curbs, he suffered a puncture and was forced to pit. O’Young had to settle for 7th position for the race, but was relishing the opportunity to fight through the field at his home race.
Jaguar I-PACE eTROPHY Race
Starting in P7 and in the midfield on a slippery track was going to be a challenge, but O’Young got off to a fantastic start, going around the outside of 2 cars, moving up to 5th at turn 1. He then set to work gaining positions, and on lap 3, O’Young made his move and passed for 4th position.
The track was getting grippier and O’Young found himself right on the rear bumper of the 3rd place car. With a podium in sight, he fought hard to find an opportunity to get into the top 3. However on lap 14, a late move from the car behind going into turn 1 resulted in contact, dropping the Hong Kong race driver back down to 6th place. O’Young pushed hard to recover but was unable to find a way past in the tight Central Harbourfront street circuit. He eventually crossed the line in P6 after having fought hard the entire race, and took the chequered flag ahead of the pro-am drivers.
Despite not finishing on the podium, it was a fighting performance in front of the local fans at O’Young’s maiden home race. Darryl O’Young would like to thank Smart Charge, Jaguar Hong Kong and 4ARTS Media for their support, as well as Jaguar Racing for the special opportunity to race at the 2019 Hong Kong E-Prix, as it would not be possible without them.
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Darryl O’Young | Driver – #1 Smart Charge Jaguar I-PACE eTROPHY
“It was a really good race and I had a lot of fun. I had a great start and overtook a few cars and was in a good position. I tried to adapt everything I learnt over the past couple of days, and it worked well and was able to fight forward. Even though I had more pace over the cars in front I just couldn’t get past. Even though I wanted to make a move on the car in front, avoiding contact was a priority as a guest driver, being respectful for the other guys fighting for the main championship. At the restart I got hit from behind and lost positions and that was a shame as I was fighting for the podium. Overall it was a lot of fun and hopefully I’ll be back racing electric cars soon!”
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