Mixed feelings
The curtain raiser for Season 8 of the Formula E World Championship held bittersweet cards for Mahindra Racing
ROWLAND STARTED RACE 2 FROM TENTH PLACE
SEASON EIGHT OF THE ABB FIA Formula E World Championship was off to an electric start, with Edoardo Mortara of ROKit Venturi Racing winning the seasonopener in Diriyah. Robin Frijns of Envision Racing finished second, with Mortara’s teammate Lucas di Grassi coming in third.
Defending champion Nyck de Vries from Mercedes-EQ, the winner in Round 1, was pushed down the pack after the Venturis made their way through, following a pass by Jean-Éric Vergne of DS Techeetah. André Lotterer of the TAG Heuer Porsche Formula Team made amends after slipping down the order in Race 1, battling to 4th position and jousting with the pair of Jake Dennis in the Avalanche Andretti and Vergne, passing both of them. On the other hand, Stoffeel Vandoorne from Mercedes-EQ moved up from 12th position to 7th by the time he reached the chequered flag, claiming valuable points in a challenging situation.
Mahindra Racing showed immense promise during free practice, with new driver Oliver Rowland posting a lap time which was 0.158 seconds up on double champion Antonio Felix da Costa in the DS Techcheetah, with Jake Dennis in the Andretti coming third. Sadly this impressive form didn’t reflect in the race, a race-ending incident with Frijns resulting in Rowland being retired from the race. Simms however climbed up four places, finishing Race 1 in 14th position.
Rowland clawed back lost ground in Race 2 of the E-Prix, after a three-place grid penalty was slapped onto him. Rowland started Race 2 from 10th place, with Simms starting alongside his teammate on the grid by qualifying in 9th place. By the time the chequered flag dropped, Simms touched the wall and retired while running in 11th place, while Rowland scored the first points for Mahindra Racing’s 2022 season by finishing in 8th place.
By time the chequered flag had dropped however, Simms touched the fall and was forced to retire while running in 11th position, while Rowland managed to score the first points for Mahindra Racing’s 2022 race season by finishing in eighth place. ⌧