Coming from a win at the Sanya E-Prix just two weeks ago, Jake Dennis is taking the wheel of the BMW GT3 with ROWE Racing at the 24H of Spa. Speaking to Motorsport Week, Dennis explained the hectic travel demands of balancing GTWC and Formula E, as well as detailing Spa 24H.
Last week, Jake had been in Sanya in China for the Formula E race, where he got his second with of the season after starting from pole position. After, he flew to Spa to compete in the 24h race, before he leaves for the second Formula E race in China this week.
“Yeah, it’s tough. The biggest thing is the heat and the jet lag, I would say. I kind of just got out of the Chinese time zone. So I’ll have this race as a bit of everything, five hours sleep maybe. And then obviously I go to Shanghai on Monday. So it’s a busy period.”
Dennis is the only Formula E driver to be combing his programme with a full time GT3 seat. Some others compete in the FIA World Endurance Championship in Hypercar programmes.
“It’s going to be away from home for, I think, it’s 10 or 11 weeks of not being in your own bed. It’s been a long time. But, you know, it’s part of the game. It’s what we’re paid to do. And, yeah, thankfully, Sanya was worth it with the race win. Makes it a little bit more enjoyable.
“But, yeah, it’s when you fly the other side of the world and score zero points is when it’s a bit more painful,” explained Dennis, who has so far scored points in all GTWC rounds he took part in.
“This one, you just try and get back into the rhythm of a GT car as quickly as possible. You know, I don’t drive these cars very often. So it’s a bit more difficult for me.
“And then the other two, obviously, Formula E is just the normal routine of sim prep Monday, Tuesday, and then fly Tuesday or, in this case, fly to Shanghai Monday. So it hasn’t really changed over the years, that side of it. It’s quite regimented. And, just planning to go to Shanghai on Tuesday, Wednesday. And then, get on track later.”
Switching between cars this different has also been something to get used to. Dennis, who came to Formula E from GT racing, still feels the differences though: “It’s odd. The biggest thing is really, obviously, the visibility is vastly different. You know, how much you see inside a race car is quite a bit different.
“And then also the weight of the car. The weight transfer is probably the biggest thing. But I’ve been doing GT racing now for, I don’t know how many years, five, six, longer, ten years. And then Formula E for five. So it’s quite easy for me now to jump one between the other. Formula E definitely still feels more natural.
“I have to work at it with this a little bit more than usual. But, yeah, I don’t see myself as a full-time GT driver anymore. You know, I can only just come in and do the races and then dip out.
Main focus is Formula E, obviously, but I still really enjoy these races.”
The hottest Spa 24H
The temperatures in Spa averaged at around 40°C, with Belgium experiencing one of the worst heatwaves in recent history. Though despite that, Jake Dennis is among the very few drivers who weren’t
“It’s hot. It’s very hot. But, I mean, I’ve just come from Sanya, where surprisingly it’s actually even hotter than this,” said Jake Dennis, who won the Sanya E-Prix the weekend prior.
“So, yeah, when I first arrived, it was kind of normal, I guess, the temperature. But, honestly, the cars now have AC. So the worst part is obviously just walking around the paddock and being outside. When you’re driving, it’s not too bad.”
The BMW GT3 #98 of team ROWE Racing started from 19th place, not making it from the first super-pole session: “I mean, yeah, we’ve had some difficulties. You know, we’re probably not where we wanted to be in comparison to the other manufacturers. We’re generally missing some performance.
“So, yeah, right now we’re, you know, we did the first job, which was make it to Superpole. And then from there on, it was obviously an uphill climb, I guess. And I think Lelo [Raffaele Marciello] did the best job he could in qualifying 21st.
“Not great. But, yeah, hopefully we can just find some performance. Ultimately, the starting position doesn’t really matter. We just need to find some performance overnight.”
In a field of over 60 GT3 cars, it is challenging to get the car into the right window. That has been something that BMW have been struggling throughout this season of the GT World Challenge Europe.
“Honestly, we’ve done enough laps now to try and get it in the window. And I feel like the car is behaving pretty well. You know, it’s handling as well as it normally does around the corners.
“But, yeah, obviously, right now we’re just lacking performance to the top guys. You know, Ferrari look especially strong. And so do McLaren and Mercedes. We just need to try and focus on ourselves, not get wrapped up. If the performance is there, then great. If it’s not, then we’re obviously just going to have to maximize what we have and just make no mistakes.”
With extreme temperatures, the Pirelli tyres have been behaving differently than teams and drivers would expect: “The tyres definitely aren’t really designed for 65 plus degree track temps. So it’s a hard time for them.
“It’s difficult for the tyres, especially over one hour. Thankfully, tomorrow is a lot colder. You know, we’re looking at maybe like 12 to 15 degrees cooler. So I say cold, probably nice, 22, 23 degrees. So by the time we’ll be fine.”
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