Electrifying performance from Kiwi driver

He left it to the very last race, but Auckland racer Simon Evans has won the Jaguar i-Pace Trophy series, a single-make support competition featuring Jaguar’s stylish EV sedan.

An ecstatic Evans slipped past defending champion Sergio Jimenez in the standings with second-place finish in the season finale at Berlin’s Tempelhof Airport circuit on 13 August.

The performance sealed his maiden drivers’ championship by just one point.

Evans came into the round a strong contender for the title but trailing Jimenez on points. In the first three of the opening four races he had struggled to make any headway on runaway leader Jimenez. That changed at the final as the Asia New Zealand team unlocked fresh speed for their driver. Evans took three consecutive wins before running a cautious strategy in the final to ensure he finished ahead of his main rival.

“Unreal to win the championship in the last race by only one point. Mega pace all week and today I just did what I needed to do. Thanks to the team for giving me the opportunity to drive the Team Asia New Zealand car,” he said on his social media channel.

The Jaguar I-PACE eTrophy will not return for a third season, meaning Evans becomes the second and final ever champion. Citing the economic aftershocks of the global pandemic Jaguar decided earlier in the year to end for the series. The eTrophy was the first ever championship series for production-based electric vehicles and ran as a support for the FIA Formula E Championship.


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