Legge Became the First Female to Win a Professional Electric Car Race in a 1-2 Finish Over Sellers
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| Katherine Legge |
Katherine Legge led Saturday afternoon’s Jaguar I-PACE eTROPHY race at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez from start-to-finish in a 1-2 finish for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing.
The Brit started the second-ever I-PACE eTROPHY race from pole and remained out front for the full 25-minute and one lap race in the Mexican capital.
She finished 0.404 seconds ahead of her RLL teammate Bryan Sellers, and while the pair remained close for the full race, Sellers was unable to make any serious attempts for the lead.
The pair of Jaguar Brazil Racing cars finished third and fourth, with Sergio Jimenez ahead of Caca Bueno.
The race’s main action came by way of a collision at the chicane which forced VIP driver Salvador Duran to retire ahead hitting Bueno’s car.
The incident also caused Simon Evans, who came to Mexico as points leader after winning in Ad Diriyah, off track to avoid the accident, pushing him down the order.
Bandar Alesayi was also caught up in the accident, hitting Bueno afterwards, but the Saudi Racing driver came back to claim the Pro-Am class victory from fifth overall.
Alesayi had followed his teammate and countryman Ahmed Bin Khanen for several laps but he and Evans both managed to make their way through when Bin Khanen slowed, likely from damage also picked up in the chicane incident.
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| Legge has teammate Sellers all over her rear bumper |
KATHERINE LEGGE, No. 3 Jaguar I-PACE eTROPHY entry: “It’s been a pretty flawless weekend really. I was able to get my first career Jaguar I-PACE eTROPHY pole which was another highlight as well as leading from start to finish although Bryan put on a lot of pressure from behind. I am just really proud of the guys for doing an awesome job and helping us finish 1-2. It was really cool to have Bobby here with us for this. He had faith in us and is the reason we are here. It was an interesting race because very early on we saw the rest of the field get involved in some sort of happening and got held up and it was just Bryan and I. He and I have raced together a lot in these last 18 months and I knew he would be tough but fair. Bobby said ‘Don’t hit each other’ so that was our goal. The podium here was really cool. The fans are very enthusiastic and it’s just a great atmosphere here."
FAST FACTS: Legge set the fastest time in the first-ever series qualifying session after Round 1 was rained out in Saudi Arabia. In the race, she held the lead throughout the action-packed 25-minute-plus-1-lap event that included multiple incidents. Early on, Legge and Sellers pulled away from the field and built a five second lead. Legge took the checkered flag 0.4-seconds ahead of Sellers and the two had an eight second lead over third. She became the first female to win a professional electric racing event. It was her fourth overall electric car race and second in the Jaguar I-PACE eTROPHY. She competed in the first two Formula E races with Amlin Aguri in the 2014/2015 season. Her previous win was at Laguna Seca on 9-9-18 with Meyer Shank Racing in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTD class.
BRYAN SELLERS, No. 6 Jaguar I-PACE eTROPHY entry: “Today was a great day. We were able to finish one-two for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. This is a tough place and tough conditions. It was great for Kat and I to go nose-to-tail, wire-to-wire. Fortunately it was a fairly uneventful race. There was an accident behind us and we were able to gap ourselves a little bit. It was a cat and mouse game between her and I but we ended up walking away where we qualified and everyone is happy. Now it’s on to the next one."
FAST FACTS: Sellers set the second fastest time in qualifying but with two laps to go, his left rear tire was punctured. For the race, he was forced to use a tire that he ran in Saudi Arabia. One set of tires are used for the duration of a race weekend. In the race, he held off a charging Salvador Duran while remaining close to Legge and soon thereafter the two pulled away and built a lead of up to five seconds over third place while cars battled behind them. By the end of the race, Sellers was eight seconds ahead of third place Sergio Jimenez and had set the fastest lap of the race. It was the second electric race for the reigning IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTD champion who started second in Saudi Arabia and finished third.