Simon Evans has claimed victory in the first-ever Jaguar I-PACE eTROPHY round, with the Kiwi holding off Sergio Jimenez and Bryan Sellers on the streets of Ad Diriyah.
Evans, the brother of ABB FIA Formula E Championship driver Mitch, crossed the line 0.816 seconds ahead of the Brazilian, who took second on the penultimate lap after getting by Sellers in an aggressive late-race move.
While the two all-electric powered I-PACE vehicles made slight contact, Sellers in the No. 6 Rahal Letterman Lanigan entry managed to hold onto third at the checkered flag.
It marked a lights-to-flag victory for Evans, driving for Jaguar Team Asia New Zealand.
Caca Bueno came home fourth in the sister Jaguar Brazil Racing entry with Alice Powell completing the top-five overall after charging from seventh overall on the grid in the guest entry.
Katherine Legge, meanwhile, was sixth in the No. 3 RLL Jaguar, after starting ninth in the 12-car field and setting the race’s fastest lap.
Pro-Am honors went to Bandar Alesayi, who finished seventh overall and led a 1-2 class sweep for Saudi Racing.
The race, which was reduced to 23 minutes plus one lap following an extra formation lap due to changing conditions, ran caution-free, although saw a number of incidents in addition to the battle for second.
It included contact between Bueno and the No. 18 TWR Techeetah I-PACE of Stefan Rzadzinski on Lap 5, which resulted in the Canadian dropping to the rear of the field with suspected damage.
The grid for the inaugural round was set from Free Practice times on Friday, following a washout in qualifying due to standing water from heavy overnight rain.
