CUPRA KIRO returns to the top 10 in Jeddah
CUPRA KIRO battles to a top 10 finish at the 2025 Jeddah E-Prix
CUPRA KIRO returned to the top 10 in the second race of the double-header 2025 Jeddah E-Prix, with driver, Dan Ticktum, battling to a ninth-place finish in Saudi Arabia.
The American squad, which made its debut in Formula E earlier in the 2024/25 campaign, showed encouraging pace in the first race of the weekend and entered Saturday with a focused mindset after refining its Season 11 package during the night.
Dan and team-mate, David Beckmann, launched their Qualifying efforts from a highly competitive Group A and both drivers were unfortunate to miss out on the duels, with Dan placing fifth, 0.044 seconds short of progressing, and David ranking sixth, a further 0.027s down.
Following Stoffel Vandoorne’s disqualification from Qualifying, this performance put Dan and David ninth and 11th on the grid.
In the race, both drivers enjoyed a competitive start, with Dan working his way up to sixth on the first lap while David also made progress by moving up to ninth.
As the race evolved and the field settled into a consistent energy-saving rhythm, Dan continued to press on and soon entered the top five before snatching fourth away from Jean-Eric Vergne on lap six.
While the Briton cemented his place in the lead group of cars, David used his first of two Attack Modes to solidify his place in the midfield and ran consistently on the verge of the points-paying positions.
After running late into the race without using Attack Mode, Dan deployed his first use of the device on lap 15 and followed it up with his second use on lap 25, clawing his way up the order from ninth to fifth on both occasions.
During the final laps, Dan unfortunately slipped down the order but held on to take ninth at the flag, scoring two points. David, after showing promise over the first half, finished 17th after struggling with efficiency in the closing stages.
The 2024/25 FIA Formula E World Championship season will resume on 12 April for CUPRA KIRO’s home race at the Miami E-Prix, held at the Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Hear from CUPRA KIRO
Alex Hui, Team Principal, CUPRA KIRO
“It feels satisfying to get some points on the board today. Everyone has worked incredibly hard this weekend, and although there is a sense that we could have achieved more overall, it’s nice to be rewarded for our efforts. At each race this season, we’ve shown that we have raw potential and that we can mix it at the front, and we can use this as a source of inspiration in the preparation and lead up to Miami. We have a clear idea of how we can improve our package, and I’m excited for our home race in April.”
Russell O’Hagan, Chief Operating Officer, CUPRA KIRO
“All in all, we’ve had an encouraging weekend in Jeddah and I’m really pleased with the team’s progress. We regrouped well today after yesterday’s frustrations, and it was great to have both drivers performing well in Qualifying and to bank some points in a frantic race. Potentially there was room for even a little more today but there are no easy positions in Formula E – the races are incredibly dynamic all the way through to the last corner. There’s a positive feeling in the team right now and we will carry that through in our prep for Miami. We’re making good progress.”
Dan Ticktum, Driver, CUPRA KIRO
“Today was better than yesterday, and we’re heading in the right direction. In Qualifying we didn’t quite have the pace, but we were able to pull everything together start inside the top 10 which is all that matters. We were doing well in the first half of the race, but I don’t think we quite got our Attack Mode strategy right at the end which cost us a couple of places. Overall, a positive weekend.”
David Beckmann, Driver, CUPRA KIRO
“We saw an improvement from yesterday to today, especially with the good qualifying to start from 11th. From there, we had a lot of potential for a points finish, and we had a good start and ran well in the first half to stay in the top 10. Unfortunately, I started to struggle for pace towards the end and it was hard to hold on. I think we have room to improve our race pace, and we can analyse this to come back stronger. I’m looking forward to Miami.”
