Jaguar TCS Racing’s Mitch Evans claimed back-to-back victories in the Rome E-Prix double-header of races with a dramatic win in Round 5 following yesterday’s first place finish in Round 4 of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship.
The Kiwi driver led Poleman Jean-Éric Vergne (DS TECHEETAH) in second and Envision Racing’s Robin Frijns who couldn’t top yesterday’s second place finish to come home in third.
As it happened…
DS TECHEETAH’s Jean-Eric Vergne pulled away from Pole while his former teammate and TAG Heuer Porsche driver Andre Lotterer passed Avalanche Andretti’s Jake Dennis into second. By the top of the hill and Turn 7, Dennis had reclaimed second, dropping Lotterer back down to third.
With a collision between Mahindra Racing’s Alex Sims and Nissan e.dams Max Guenther, the German driver retired to the pits, ending his race less than five minutes in.
Despite setting the fastest lap in Qualifying earlier in the day, Jake Dennis started loosing more ground after Lotterer attacked at Turn 7, reclaiming second. Shortly after, yesterday’s race winner Mitch Evans (Jaguar TCS Racing) slipped past into third.
Squeezing into Turn 4 side by side, standings leader and ROKiT Venturi Racing driver Edoardo Mortara tried to pass DS TECHEETAH’s Antonio Felix da Costa, with the Portuguese racer closing the door on the Swiss, damaging the front wing of his car. Shortly after, Mortara clipped the wall on Turn 19 and coasted to safety, retiring from the race with a suspected driveshaft failure.
For home race hero and DRAGON/PENSKE AUTOSPORT, the Italian driver stopped on track between Turn 8 and 9, resulting in the deployment of the Porsche Taycan Safety Car.
With 24 minutes left on the clock, the Safety Car was brought in and the racing commenced. Poleman Vergne led Evans for less than a lap before the opportunist overtook into Turn 4 to take the lead from the Frenchman.
Dennis continued to slip down the order to seventh as the race passed the halfway mark. Up at the front, Evans continued to lead Vergne, Porsche’s Lotterer in second and Envision’s Robin Frijns in third.
Enjoying the benefit of the extra power gained through his eight-minute ATTACK MODE, Robin Frijns made his way up the order and took race leader Evans up the hill on Turn 7.
Paying the price for closing the door earlier on Mortara, DS’ da Costa received a five minute time penalty while back at the front, Lotterer was looking to take the lead with extra power gained through ATTACK MODE. Now in second, the German driver was close on the tail of Frijns who was desperately trying to hold on to the lead.
With seconds of his ATTACK MODE power left, Lotterer made his move on Frijns to take the lead into Turn 4. Now setting the pace, the German driver was close on his first victory in Formula E with 10 minutes left on the clock.
After a short Safety Car while Mahindra’s Sims’ car was recovered after a spin on Turn 14, the racing was back under way – now with 5m15s of TAG Heuer Added Time to extend the race.
Saving his ATTACK MODE until the end of the race, Evans took the boost with less than eight minutes of the race remaining. With extra power, Evans went after Lotterer, hunting the German driver before taking the lead on the hill up to Turn 7.
With Evans holding firm, Vergne slipped past his former teammate Lotterer, jumping to second, before Frijns made a move on the German to knock him off the podium and into fourth.
With Envision Racing’s Nick Cassidy in the wall at the top of Turn 7, the Safety Car made a brief appearance before coming in to leave a last lap dash for the finish.
With Evans out in front and Vergne close behind, the Frenchman was on the attack to regain his lead. Unable to catch Evans, the Jaguar driver crossed the line victorious, once again, for the second time in the Rome doubleheader.
Close behind, Vergne brought home second with Envision’s Frijns bringing home another podium in third.
