E-Prix Tokyo, Race: Günther is the first winner in Japan | FP

Günther, the new Samurai

AND Maximilian Günther The first winner of the history ofTokyo E-Prixwith the German giving the Maserati the second success in Formula E at the end of a hard-fought race from the first to the 35th lap, two more than those scheduled for the entry of the Safety Car. A performance that reflects the excellent strategy of the Modena team, which thus returns to the top step of the podium after last year's Jakarta E-Prix, when Günther always triumphed. Unlike what happened in Sao Paulo between Bird and Evans, the 26-year-old also managed to maintain the lead during the last lap, defending first position from attacks by Oliver Rowlandwho still gives the home crowd the joy of the podium in front of Jake Dennis.

Race report

Rowland himself had also acquired the merit of obtaining the first pole position of the Japanese E-Prix, winning the final against Günther by just 21 thousandths of a second. World championship leader Nick Cassidy is in much more difficulty, penalized for a technical infringement and relegated to 19th position on the grid, with Jaguar thus not managing to celebrate its 100th race in the best possible way either with him or with Evans, sixth in qualifying but subsequently involved in a contact during the race. At the start, after the surprising third position, Mortar he managed to get the better of his former Maserati teammate, overtaking him and chasing Rowland. On a street circuit not conducive to overtaking, the top-3 remained unchanged for a long time, with the first attack modes activated only at the rear. On lap 10 Rowland managed to exploit the extra power, still maintaining the top of the standings thanks to the gap created on Mortara. The latter, on the contrary, only lost one position to the Maserati driver on the following lap, but returned to 3rd place due to Günther's greater extra power and before the entry of the safety cars. In fact, on a narrow circuit there was no shortage of contacts, one of which compromised Evans' race. Due to the debris scattered on the track, the safety car entered, a fact that will lead to the addition of two more laps in the final. After the restart on the 23rd lap, the decisive action occurred on lap 25: surprisingly, Günther managed to overtake Rowland in a straight line, taking command and maintaining it even after the second and final activation of attack mode thanks to the security gap generated on English. The latter, during the last lap, attempted several times to regain the leadership, with the German however retaining first position until the checkered flag. The same did not happen with Da Costa on Rowland in an attempt on the outside, losing the podium to Dennis and with Mortara then excluded from the top-5 after the last attack mode and disqualified at the end of the race due to technical irregularities. In the final, Pascal Wehrlein closed out the top 5.

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E-Prix Tokyo 2024, order of arrival

Next appointment

Don't miss the weekend from 12 to 14 Apriland not just because they will be held two races in a single weekend, valid for the sixth and seventh E-Prix of the season, but above all because they will take place in Italy. For the first time since 2018, however, the venue will no longer be the EUR city circuit, where the Rome E-Prix took place until last year, but the permanent Misano Adriatico track which will host for the first time Formula E forMisano E-Prix.