Formula E: Mitch Evans wins the race in Rome

Mitch Evans of Jaguar’s factory New Zealand team took victory on the city circuit in Rome, ahead of Envision’s Robin Friens and Mercedes’ Stoffel Vandorn, who started from pole.

After the start of the race, Vandorn was in the lead, closely followed by Fryins and Evans was far from the main contender for victory as he started from 9th position. He did not claim the podium in the early stages, unlike the DS Techeetah racers, who fought each other very actively and clearly counted on the podium. As a result, the best of them was two-time Formula E champion Jean-Eric Vergne, who finished fourth.

The race on a narrow street circuit was quite chaotic, with incidents starting shortly after the start when Edoardo Mortara crashed into Oliver Rowland’s Mahindra from behind, knocking the Brit off the track.

A small blockage formed on the track and shortly after, in Turn 11, Mac Gunter, a Nissan e.dams driver, also crashed into the guardrail. A safety car came onto the track, this season the electric Porsche Taycan.

Shortly after the restart, Frijns was off the track ahead of Vandorn at Turn 4, but there were further changes in the top five, as Vergne’s DS Techeetah team-mate António Felix da Costa moved into second and started chasing the leader. However, he did not claim a place in the top three for long: he was pushed aside by Andrettii rider Jay Dennis and Mitch Evans.

With less than 15 minutes to go in Rome, Vandorn took the lead again, but by that point Evans had already made significant progress. He then made very correct use of the regime’s increased power and soon surpassed Vandorn and de Vries.

There was little left before the end of the race, the battle for leadership entered a decisive phase and in this situation Evans again oriented himself best of all. Despite being chased by Frines and Vandoorne, the New Zealander managed to hold onto the lead and remain in the lead until the finish.