The second race of the weekend in Berlin also featured many overtakings, several episodes and even some controversy that will probably drag on into the next few days. Under the checkered flag it was Antonio Felix da Costa who came out on top, thus making up for the victory canceled at Misano due to a technical infringement, achieving a success gained after the last Safety Car thanks to a pace unattainable for his rivals.
After a very chaotic first part of the race, the Portuguese driver from Porsche had shown that he potentially had something more on his side than his rivals, making an initial attempt to push forward, however this was thwarted by the intervention of the Safety Car due to a contact between Norman Nato and Sacha Fenestraz after 25 laps.
However, when the safety car returned to the pits, also taking advantage of the duels behind him, Da Costa imposed a pace that allowed him to lengthen, extend his advantage and take a safety margin to exploit to protect the victory from the return of a fierce Nick Cassidy at the end. Today’s triumph represents a real liberation for Da Costa, who is seeking confirmation in Porsche for next year too, as demonstrated by his enthusiasm at the end of the race.
Antonio Felix da Costa, Porsche, Porsche 99X Electric Gen3
Photo by: Andrew Ferraro / Motorsport Images
A tense and heated race, with the gap between the first two of just seven tenths. This is exactly why the extension made by Da Costa after the SC was crucial: while the Portuguese was able to manage, the Jaguar representative had to compete in several duels that cost precious time. In the final laps, Cassidy also had to fight with teammate Mitch Evans, who was among the last to activate Attack Mode just like in yesterday’s race.
However, while Evans did not go beyond sixth place, on the contrary Cassidy managed to recover up to second place, which is worth a good haul of points from a world ranking perspective, thus extending his lead over Pascal Wehrlein, today fourth, to sixteen points. . In fact, sandwiched between the two title contenders is an excellent Oliver Rowland, once again the protagonist of a masterful comeback after a subpar qualifying. Nissan was aware of the difficulties it would encounter on this track in qualifying, given the type of concrete road surface and the complexity of getting the tires into the correct temperature window for the flying lap.
On the contrary, as already seen in yesterday’s ePrix, in the race the Briton found a change of pace that brought him back to the top of the standings, despite some overly heated duels that led the race direction to assign him a white flag. Black. A significant third place, because it also confirms Nissan’s qualities over the long distance, where the points are scored: although the gap from Cassidy in the standings has widened, Rowland maintains third place overall, getting closer to the man who finished today in his shoulders, i.e. Wehrlein.
Nick Cassidy, Jaguar TCS Racing, Jaguar I-TYPE 6, Oliver Rowland, Nissan Formula E Team, Nissan e-4ORCE 04, Jake Dennis, Andretti Global, Porsche 99X Electric Gen3
Photo by: Dom Romney / Motorsport Images
The German’s race was partly characterized above all by the many duels (and related controversies) with Jake Dennis’ Andretti, some of which were very close to the limit, including one at the start of the race, when the Briton widened his trajectory when exiting the hairpin leading Wehrlein to the wall. A battle between brand mates that eliminated both from the fight for the podium at the end. In some ways the German’s race is not even far from that of Saturday: an ePrix spent in the leading group for a long time, but without finding the necessary inspiration in the decisive moment to at least fly to the podium in the home event.
Mitch Evans finished sixth, one of the last to take advantage of the second Attack Mode just like in Saturday’s race, who preceded an excellent Jehan Daruvala. Yesterday the Indian driver had to serve a double penalty for replacing the gearbox which, basically, had ruined a good qualifying: although he had recovered several positions in the race, a contact had then put him out of contention. On the contrary, today Daruvala managed to put in a solid performance, bringing his Maserati into the points. Although it is not a weekend that changes the balance of the season, on the other hand the Indian was the protagonist of a convincing weekend in terms of performance, in the hope that this growth path will lead him to achieve other good results before of the end of the year.
Equally positive was the weekend of Taylor Barnard, who achieved a beautiful eighth place in what, in fact, is his second appointment in Formula E, having had to replace the injured Sam Bird. Also noteworthy is the brilliant ninth place of Joel Eriksson, who made his debut here in Berlin as one of the two reserves of the Envision team, given that both official drivers were forced to skip the double German event due to the coincidence with the WEC in Spa.
Taylor Barnard, NEOM McLaren Formula E Team, e-4ORCE 04
Photo by: Andrew Ferraro / Motorsport Images
Closing the points zone is Jean-Eric Vergne with the DS: the Frenchman was unable to repeat his performance on Saturday, when he closed the ePrix with an excellent second position resulting from well-judged race conduct, but rather had to settle for a tenth place. Just outside the top ten is the Abt Cupra of Lucas di Grassi, with the German team ending the home event with some regrets: yesterday both single-seaters had fought effectively for the points, however they also lost out due to a collision suffered, while today tenth place was only eight tenths away.
Twelfth was Jake Hughes in the other McLaren, who ended up with a damaged front wing after a contact in the middle of the group. Of note is Edoardo Mortara’s puncture towards the end of the race, as well as the accident that put Nato and Fenestraz out of action: the Frenchman from Andretti attempted an overtaking move that was far too risky, pushing the Nissan driver into the wall, who never started again due to suspension failure. Max Gunther also retired with the other Maserati, despite being involved in an accident.
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