Edoardo Mortara, in his ROKiT Venturi, took advantage of some mid-race antics by Oliver Rowland against Antonio Felix da Costa to take the lead from the Portuguese pole man with attack mode. For the remaining 31 minutes, the Swiss driver never looked back and took a solid victory in Marrakesh, as well as the championship lead.
Saturday, July 2nd, saw a rapid game of strategy between half a dozen Formula E cars in Marrakesh. The early race was dominated by successive Attack Mode, as the lead switched between the DS Techeetah, and pole man, Antonio Felix da Costa and ROKiT Venturi of Edoardo Mortara. Despite a first pole of the season, and solid record in Marrakesh for Antonio Felix da Costa, the DS Techeetah driver’s late charge was not enough to overcome Mortara’s lead. As a result, the Swiss driver takes the championship lead ahead of the other DS Techeetah of Jean Eric-Vergne – who himself lost out in the late stages to Mitch Evans, who remains fourth but still in contention in the championship. The top race battle saw aggressive negotiations between the DS Techeetah and its drivers, who opted to use team orders to swap Jean Eric Vergne ahead of his Portuguese teammate. Da Costa eventually convinced the team the swap him back, using his pace as a bargaining tool. Da Costa’s charge, however, was covered by Mortara’s excellent defensive pace.
Pascal Wehrlein, who started fourth after a very rapid qualifying, disappeared during the race. The German Porsche driver had no race pace, after suffering temperature issues, fell back even behind teammate Lotterer, who had started dead last. Wehrlein eventually finished in 12th position after last lap antics, but short of points. Lotterer finished in 15th.
The race was also eventful for the 5th to 7th placed cars, of Lucas di Grassi in the other ROKiT Venturi; the Mercedes EQ of Nyck de Vries and the Avalanche Andretti of Jake Dennis. Dennis’ race began solidly, keeping pace with the top three and drifting away from the train which formed early behind Pascal Wehrlein (who’s defence against Mitch Evans earned him no favours from the New Zealander). However, as the attack modes began to be taken, Dennis fell back in the chaos but spent the race battling with Jean Eric Vergne, who took damage running into the Andretti’s rear with 25 minutes on the clock. It took JEV another three minutes to pass the British driver – who then spent the rest of the race battling di Grassi and de Vries for 5th.
After an excellent move on Oliver Askew into Turn 7, all locked up, de Vries saw some solid running just behind the leaders. His race long battle against the 2016-2017 champion di Grassi was tense, with the Brazilian emulating the Dutchman’s lock-up overtake into Turn 7 some 20 minutes after. The battle between them eventually caught Jake Dennis, who was preserving energy towards the final stages. Eventually both made the overtake on Dennis, cementing their final battle for 5th and 6th. De Vries overtook di Grassi with a minute on the clock, but the Venturi driver returned the favour with two corners to go to finish 5th, and de Vries 6th.
Throughout this battle, however, we cannot forget Oliver Rowland. Despite finishing 10th and with a solitary point, Rowland had a huge impact on the eventual finish of the race. His early pace, with attack mode, was rapid quick – but certainly meant his car was leaking energy. An early prediction by Antonio Felix da Costa came true, and Rowland struggled to regain that energy towards the end, falling back all the while. However, managing to climb as high as 2nd, Rowland fought with da Costa during the attack mode phase of the race. A collision between the two, whereby the British Mahindra driver tagged da Costa before returning the position he then took, certainly slowed the DS Techeetah and allowed Mortara to hold the lead after taking attack mode himself. Rowland then spent the remainder of the race falling backwards.
The other key figure in the championship battle, Stoffel Vandoorne, had a solid if limited recovery drive. Starting way back in 20th, after a lacklustre qualifying in the leading group, Vandoorne spent the majority of the race darting around slower cars to get back into the points with 6 minutes remaining. Eventually, he the Belgian Mercedes EQ driver battled with fellow recovery driver, Sam Bird, before taking the ailing Rowland for 8th place. Vandoorne’s second worst finish of the season means he remains still within contention, but two championship places below where he started this weekend – from the lead to 3rd. Bird’s own recovery, from a poor qualifying in 13th for the Jaguar man, to 9th means he takes only his fifth points score of the season.
The non-points finishers no less had an impactful race. An early spin while trying to take attack mode meant Nick Cassidy could not capitalise on a solid 8th place qualifying, way ahead of teammate Frijns. An early issue with Dan Ticktum meant he fell near a lap behind after pitting, the British NIO driver eventually retired. Antonio Giovinazzi eventually managed to beat teammate Sergio Sette Camara despite spinning and causing a short yellow flag. Maximillian Guenther, in the Nissan e.dams, attempted to collect Nick Cassidy with 6 minutes on the clock. The German eventually retired from the damage.
The championship battle still remains with the top four contenders all with a good chance. A good result for both Venturi’s and both Ds Techeetahs mean Mercedes EQ falls back to third, while Venturi sits ahead of Techeetah with just seven points between them all, 205, 203 and 198 respectively. Jaguar is some way back on 155 points, with Porsche falling further behind with no points finishes.
Edo Mortara climbs to the lead with 139 points to his name, gapping JEV’s 128 by 11 points. Stoffel Vandoorne’s 4 points means he now sits on 125 in third, while Mitch Evans closes the gap to third to just a solitary point. Frijns, da Costa and de Vries are now some way back, with 81, 75 and 73 respectively – some 7 points head of Lucas di Grassi on 66.
ABB Formula E returns in two weeks with a double header in New York City on the Brooklyn Street Circuit, on the 16th and 17th of July.