CUPRA KIRO secures double points finish in Jeddah
CUPRA KIRO takes first double points finish of Season 12 at the 2026 Jeddah E-Prix
CUPRA KIRO secured its first double-points finish of the 2025/26 FIA Formula E World Championship season in Race 2 of the double-header 2026 Jeddah E-Prix, with Dan Ticktum and Pepe Martí finishing fifth and sixth respectively.
After continuing to show encouraging pace in practice, placing third in FP3, Dan narrowly missed out on the Qualifying duels by just 0.02 seconds to start from ninth while Pepe lined up 14th.
Dan made a good start to the race by fighting to sixth on lap one and staying in the top 10 through the first half of the race, prioritising running efficiently. Decisive Attack Modes netted more progress, seeing Dan move up to fifth – a position he held through to the chequered flag – as the Attack Mode cycles worked through.
Like Dan, Pepe made up significant ground on lap one, moving forward from 14th to 10th and took his first of two Attack Modes on lap 20. He used the extra power to fight up to sixth and used his second deployment to solidify the position, while also setting the fastest lap on his way to the chequered flag.
Dan Ticktum, Driver, CUPRA KIRO
“Overall, a pretty good day today. We tried a bit of a different strategy in Qualifying, doing three runs instead of two, and it worked well but on the second lap, when the tyre was at its best, I made a small mistake which cost me some time. I was in Group A where there were just two tenths covering second from eighth, so the margins were very close. Being in the duels would have made the race a bit easier, but it went very well. I had a good start, managed to save a bit of energy in the first 10 laps in the pack, and we read the race well, using the first Attack Mode to make up places and the second to hold them. The strategy was good, and there’s not much more we could have done.”
Pepe Martí, Driver, CUPRA KIRO
“On Friday, we struggled with the rear tyres after the puncture and as a result, our pace, but today was the complete opposite. We made a great start to the race and had really good pace, especially with Attack Mode, and we were very consistent in how we moved forward. Our strategy with Attack Mode worked really well, I’m happy with the result, and I’m looking forward to Madrid. I would also like to deeply apologise for the language I used on the radio today. I chose my words terribly. Unfortunately, I cannot take back my words, but I want to publicly express my deepest apologies for my behaviour.”
Russell O’Hagan, Team Principal, CUPRA KIRO
“Today’s result goes to show what a difference a day can make. Coming into this weekend, we knew that we had the pace to achieve the results that we are targeting, but after the performance and the promise of Race 1, there was a real sense of unfulfilled potential. Everyone in the team used that as a great source of motivation, and together, we were able to pull together a strong performance to convert our potential into a meaningful points haul. There are still a lot of little areas where we can improve our performance, and obviously, the incident between Dan and Pepe towards the end of the race was a real heart-stopper. That is something that, as a team, we have to ensure can never happen again, but today’s result can serve as a real springboard, and it’s important that we build on this momentum to unlock more for the remainder of the season.”
