ROKiT Venturi Racing Archives

Formula E Season 8/Round 14: London E-Prix

Lucas di Grassi took his maiden win for ROKiT Venturi Racing in the Formula E London E-Prix Round 14, after overcoming Julius Baer Polesitter Jake Dennis (Avalanche Andretti) over a hard-fought, strategic 38-lap battle in the UK capital. Di Grassi emerged through his last of 3 mandatory ATTACK MODE activations with enough in-hand to ensure he’d make it by Dennis when the Brit jumped for his last 30kW boost. The Brazilian then stretched his advantage over the final few laps and into TAG Heuer Added Time to take the chequered flag first.

Nyck de Vries came home third, while his Mercedes-EQ teammate – standings leader Stoffel Vandoorne – clambered to fourth from 13th on the grid. His closest title rival Mitch Evans (Jaguar TCS Racing) had made his way as high as fourth himself from 14th at the start of the race, but a late technical problem ended his Lond E-Prix and dealt a hammer blow to his title chances.

Edoardo Mortara (ROKiT Venturi Racing) did his utmost to get his hands on some points from 17th at lights out, but a scrappy, combative performance yielded only 13th position. Jean-Eric Vergne (DS TECHEETAH) retired early on, seemingly in contact, all but ending his championship charge.

Antonio Felix da Costa fought to fifth in the sister DS, with Sebastien Buemi (Nissan e.dams) producing his second-best result of Season 8 in sixth, Robin Frijns (Envision Racing) seventh and Sam Bird eighth for Jaguar TCS Racing on home soil.

Sergio Sette Camara got his hands on his and DRAGON / PENSKE AUTOSPORT’s first points of the campaign after he ran out of usable energy at the death in Round 13 having hassled the top four throughout. Pascal Wehrlein rounded out the top 10 for the TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team.

Londom E-Prix as it happened
The pack emerged from the darkness indoors to the light of the Docklands with Dennis ahead of di Grassi and Giovinazzi clear of da Costa in third. Some contact between Mahindra’s Oliver Rowland and Oliver Askew in the Avalanche Andretti left the former damaged and out, while Vandoorne clipped Wehrlein’s Porsche into the complex on the way to taking 12th. The top nine stood as you were on the grid.

Just 5 minutes after starting, Jean-Eric Vergne’s title challenge looked to have all but ended after contact – the DS TECHEETAH coming to a halt out on-track. This of course brought out the Porsche Taycan Safety Car, electrically powered like the racing cars.

The 5-minute neutralisation period came to an end on Lap 5 and de Vries took the opportunity to dive for ATTACK MODE – the first driver to do so. Three 4-minute doses of ATTACK MODE were on the menu for Race 2.

Giovinazzi had the elbows out on Lap 7 to fend of da Costa at Turn 2. The DRAGON driver was holding on for everything he’s worth to that third place, with da Costa losing out to de Vries in the scramble.

The first round of ATTACK MODE saw Giovinazzi shuffled to fifth before the Italian was given a drive-through penalty for overpower – frustrating driver and team. The net beneficiary looked to be Evans, who’d worked hard through the field to as high as fifth from 13th. Frustratingly for him, Vandoorne had also made ground to seventh.

On Lap 14, Dennis led di Grassi with da Costa able to slip beyond de Vries for third with Evans fifth, Buemi sixth, Vandoorne seventh, Wehrlein eighth, Bird ninth and Mortara rounding out the points-paying positions in 10th.

The race leader made the jump for his second 30 kW boost, ceding the lead to di Grassi in the process but the Brit clung on to the back of the Venturi Silver Arrow 02. The lead pair had pulled a 2-second gap on de Vries who’d retaken third from da Costa in the interim.

Lap 20 saw Evans by da Costa and into fourth, though again, Vandoorne wasn’t far behind in his shadow – the Mercedes driver now sixth. Meanwhile, di Grassi went for his final jump through the ATTACK MODE loop with Dennis holding one in hand. A fascinating tactical battle lay ahead…

The Brazilian tried to pile on the pressure but Dennis defended hard and held the Venturi driver at bay and di Grassi wasn’t quite able to get within range of a move. An overambitious move from Mortara sent his title chances spinning as he tried to make it by Bird for ninth. Vandoorne, meanwhile, was busy consolidating his advantage with a move on da Costa for fifth. Evans now being just a position ahead ensured he wouldn’t eat into the Belgian’s standings margin too significantly.

With 8 minutes plus one lap to go, di Grassi had done enough to keep in touch with and make it by Dennis’ Andretti when the Brit made his final run through the ATTACK MODE activation loop. That would mean the home favourite would have to pass the wily Brazilian on-track. No easy task.

He’d have to get there first though, as the Venturi man put the hammer down to drive to a 1.5-second lead with FANBOOST employed perfectly. Into TAG Heuer Added time, and Evans’ title hopes took a huge hit – the Kiwi lost himself down the escape road at Customs House with a technical problem and into retirement.

Di Grassi’s late-race pace saw him take the chequered flag with Dennis unable to hold on to him as the time ticked away. De Vries came home third, ahead of Vandoorne, da Costa and Buemi. Frijns, Bird, Sette Camara and Wehrlein rounded out the top 10.

Evans vs Vandoorne in Seoul
In all reality, it now looks to be a head-to-head between Evans and Vandoorne for the title with 58 points available in a fortnight’s time at the inaugural Hana Bank Seoul E-Prix double-header weekend. The Belgian now holds a commanding 36-point margin over the Jaguar driver in the points table.

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Formula E Season 8/Round 10: Marrakesh E-Prix

The Atlas mountains of Morocco have always provided a stunning backdrop for Formula E’s event in the North African country, with the first Marrakesh E-Prix held in 2016. The track follows the Circuit International Automobile Moulay El Hassan – named after the Crown Prince of Morocco – before spilling out onto the streets of Marrakesh’s hotel district.

Going into this year’s Marrakesh E-Prix, Mercedes-EQ’s Stoffel Vandoorne was in the lead for the Drivers’ World Championship with a 5-point advantage over nearest challenger and double champion Jean-Eric Vergne (DS TECHEETAH). Edoardo Mortara (ROKiT Venturi Racing) was just 2 points back in third place while Mitch Evans (Jaguar TCS Racing), who won last time out in Jakarta, sat fourth. With a maximum of 29 points on offer in Marrakesh, any one of those 4 drivers could lead the championship after the race.

And it was Mortara who moved to the top of the championship with a win as the ROKiT Venturi Racing driver fended off severe pressure from DS TECHEETAH teammates Antonio Felix da Costa and Vergne throughout. Da Costa had started from pole position and, after falling behind Mortara during the early duo of ATTACK MODE activations, he clung to the back of the Swiss’ car as the race reached its climax. But the Season 6 champion couldn’t make it past the ROKiT Venturi Racing driver who looked utterly unflustered throughout the race, collecting his third win of the season, as well as the standings lead.

Vandoorne meanwhile found it hard to hold on to his lead as a braking issue in qualifying left him down in 20th on the grid. He recovered to finish eighth but with just 4 points on the day, his lead was lost to Mortara.

Vergne had found himself in second heading into the closing stages with 2% of usable energy available before he slipped back behind da Costa to an eventual fourth position. Fellow title challenger Evans fought from sixth on the grid to the podium with a final lap lunge on Vergne for silverware and a handful of extra, crucial World Championship points for himself and Jaguar TCS Racing.

The 2.971-km circuit with 12 turns, three straights and a series of bends is known to be an energy-zapping circuit. In the searing 33-degree heat, drivers and engineers elected to jump early for their two mandatory ATTACK MODE boosts. This was based on the school of thought that it would be more efficient and effective in the long run to draw that extra 30 kW through the batteries and powertrain.

In the mix was Lucas di Grassi (ROKiT Venturi Racing), who battled to fifth and vital points for the Monegasque team, who now lead the Teams’ World Championship. Reigning World Champion Nyck de Vries (Mercedes-EQ) secured sixth and Jake Dennis (Avalanche Andretti) had to settle for seventh. Vandoorne did make up an impressive 12 spots to finish eighth in the end after his qualifying disappointment. Sam Bird wound up ninth for Jaguar TCS Racing, and Oliver Rowland – who ran as high as second spot early on – rounded out the points-paying positions in 10th.

The next round will be in New York City July 16/17 for Rounds 11/12 of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship. The much-anticipated double-header takes place on the streets of the Red Hook district of Brooklyn against the spectacular backdrop of the Manhattan skyline. This will be followed by a double-headers at the London E-Prix at the end of July. The Season 8 championship then climaxes in Korea where the Seoul E-Prix will be held for the first time on August 13/14.

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Formula E Rounds 8 & 9 – Puebla ePrix sees Edoardo Mortara extend lead to 10 points

With a new circuit in Mexico for the eighth and ninth rounds of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, the playing field was levelled a bit for all participants. Though it was the sixth time since the series’ inception that Mexico was a venue, the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in the capital city was not used. This time, the Autodromo Miguel E. Abed in Puebla, about 100 kms from Mexico City, was used instead. The reason for this change of circuit is because parts of the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez are still being used as a hospital for COVID-19 patients during the current pandemic.

Coming out of the weekend, the happiest driver was Edoardo Mortara of ROKiT Venturi Racing who collected a win for the second time in his Formula E career. Mortara’s victory came after mastering the strategy with the challenging ATTACK MODE activation zone to control the race from the lead.

Mortara moves into the lead
The victory sees Mortara jump to the top of the Drivers’ standings from eighth in the table, the Swiss-Italian now sitting 10 points clear of Robin Frijns (Envision Virgin Racing). Pascal Wehrlein, who rebounded from the day before, took second position to boost TAG Heuer Porsche team’s standing in the championship.

The second round had started with Nissan’s Oliver Rowland making a strong start Nissan. While he sped ahead, Mortara out-braked Wehrlein around the outside, as Jake Dennis (BMW i Andretti Motorsport) duelled with Jean-Eric Vergne into the first bend.

Punching through the thin air (due to the high altitude of the location), Rowland gradually started to open up a gap, the Brit unfazed as he kicked up dirt after running slightly wide at the tricky Turn 7. Climbing up from 14^th on the starting grid, Alexander Sims (Mahindra Racing) rounded out an action-packed second lap by running past both Sam Bird (Jaguar Racing) and Tom Blomqvist (NIO 333).

ATTACK MODE
As always, ATTACK MODE proved to play an important role in shaking up the lead group. Wehrlein dived to activate the first of his two power boosts and Rowland immediately followed the German. Tactically shadowing the Porsche driver’s moves to take his second and final ATTACK MODE in quick succession. With the ATTACK MODE zone open, Rowland took an early move to claim his extra 35kW of power on lap 4. The British driver immediately took advantage of the extra boost of speed to squeeze past Dennis into Turn 1.

Further down the field, there was drama on lap 8 as early season leader Nyck de Vries (Mercedes-EQ) had to crawl back to the pits with a tyre puncture following a collision with Lucas di Grassi. The Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler driver punting the rear left of the Dutchman’s Silver Arrow after immediately challenging on the exit of the ATTACK MODE activation zone.

Turn 7 saw a hard scrap between Sebastien Buemi and Bird running side-by-side into the right hander, with Di Grassi behind running out of room ploughing into the back of the Jaguar and forcing it into the side of Buemi’s Nissan.

Pascal Wehrlein’s missed chance
The battle for second started to get hot under the Mexican sun, with Wehrlein on a charge and right up to the rear diffuser of Rowland’s car. A mistake from the Nissan driver clipping the wall in the middle complex allowed Wehrlein to capitalise and move past Rowland. Clear of Rowland, Wehrlein set his sights on Mortara in the lead. The German driving with the bit between his teeth, lapping nearly a second quicker than the Swiss-Italian.

Rounding out a difficult weekend in Mexico after a DNF in Round 8, two-time champion and Rome race winner, Jean-Eric Vergne spun out of fifth position, losing two places in the process and then a few corners later Maximilian Guenther (BMW i Andretti Motorsport) picked off the Frenchman for seventh.

After a mistake running just slightly wide at Turn 7, Wehrlein handed a strong advantage to Mortara heading into the final laps with the Venturi driver making the most and picking up a gap on the German.

In a perfectly played 45 minutes plus one lap, Mortara crossed the line to take the second win of his Formula E career. After a strong drive Wehrlein rebounded from Round 8 to end second with rookie Cassidy rounding out the podium with a debut rostrum finish.

The result sees Mortara become the eighth different winner in 9 races and leave Mexico with a 10-point lead at the summit of the Drivers’ World Championship with Mercedes-EQ leading the Teams’ World Championship by 3 points. The next venue is in New York City and will also be a 2-round affair on July 10 and July 11.

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