Porsche racer Antonio Felix da Costa received the strategy-dominated first race of the Misano E-Prix, however a technical infringement noticed the Portuguese lose his first victory with the German producer, with Nissan driver Oliver Rowland inheriting the triumph in Italy.
At a circuit like Misano, vitality was at all times set to be on the forefront of drivers’ and engineers’ minds with automobiles beginning the encounter with between 60 and 70% of the usable vitality wanted to complete the race – the remaining recovered by regenerative braking. The race lead is the least environment friendly place to be, with the automotive in P1 the primary to punch a gap within the air and people behind profiting when it comes to effectivity within the slipstream.
It was due to this fact no shock to see drivers continually change their positions on the entrance. Although pole-sitter Mitch Evans held on to his beginning place in the beginning, Envision driver Sebastien Buemi took over the lead on the opening lap.
On lap 2, Pascal Wehrlein led the way in which, however his lead didn’t final lengthy with Nick Cassidy leaping to the entrance on the following lap. With the Kiwi electing to take his first two-minute energy enhance on the identical lap, he fell again to P3 which gave Jean-Eric Vergne the chance of taking up the lead.
Shortly afterwards, the two-time Formula E champion went by means of the assault zone which meant that he misplaced the result in Wehrlein. Just a couple of corners later, Vergne collided with Cassidy with the incident forcing the Kiwi to pit for a brand new entrance wing. The Frenchman might keep on regardless of dropping one of many endplates of his entrance wing.
Championship chief Wehlerin endured the identical destiny as he crashed into the again of Vergne’s automotive, dropping his entrance wing. The German was pressured to pit for a brand new wing which successfully meant the top of his race.
On Lap 10, the race has a brand new chief after Stoffel Vandoorne emerged on the entrance of the pack. However, he was unable to remain on the entrance for lengthy and he discovered down in P7 only a lap later. It confirmed the way in which the primary a part of the race panned out with drivers desperately trying after their vitality administration.
Two laps later, McLaren driver Sam Bird led the way in which. His race engineer requested him to avoid wasting vitality, however the Briton was keen to remain on the entrance, claiming that he wished to remain out of the ‘mess’. However, he was unable to take a look at and construct up a spot to the chasing pack, and acquired concerned in a conflict. As a outcome, he suffered a puncture which pressured him to pit.
In the second half of the race, it grew to become obvious that Rowland, da Costa and Vergne had the very best tempo for the closing levels of the Misano E-Prix.
With eight laps remaining, da Costa inherited the lead once more however Rowland would not lie down – the Nissan driver leaping the Porsche on Lap 23 for P1. From there, the race was a straight contest to the end . On the surface of Turn 5, with three laps to go, da Costa swooped by Rowland for first whereas Jean-Eric Vergne (DS PENSKE), Dennis and Maximilan Guenther (Maserati MSG Racing) battled in behind.
For the closing levels of the race, da Costa and Rowland might make a break with the pair abruptly discovering themselves 1.5 seconds clear. Although Rowland put da Costa below immense stress, the Portuguese driver was capable of maintain on to clinch his first win of the season.
Vergne completed third, however he acquired a five-second penalty for his conflict with Cassidy which noticed him drop down the order to P8. It meant that Dennis inherited the final spot on the rostrum with Guenther, Ticktum, Evans, Sette Camara, Vergne, Nato and Vandoorne finishing the highest ten.ó
However, just some hours after the race, the FIA famous that da Costa has been disqualified from the Misano E-Prix as “the throttle damper spring on Car #13 was not found in conformity with one of three optional declared items.”
As a outcome, the automobiles beneath da Costa within the authentic race classification transfer up a slot, which means Nissan’s Oliver Rowland inherited the race win.
Speaking of the inaugural Misano E-Prix, race winner Rowland added: “We’ve had a powerful begin to the 12 months and we maximized our efficiency once more in the present day. We anticipated a tough race on a observe that requires excessive effectivity, however the automotive was nice, we managed the vitality nicely and the technique was spot on. We needed to adapt throughout the race because it was a chaotic one.
“The begin was quick and I dropped again a couple of locations, however shortly re-gained them. We have been in a powerful place for the second half, and as soon as we matched our vitality goal we pushed on. We’re very proud of P2 (P1 after da Costa’s disqualification) in the present day, it’s superb to be main the championship however there’s an extended option to go so our full focus is on tomorrow.”
How issues stand following António Félix da Costa’s disqualification from the #MisanoEPrix.
— Formula E (@FIAFormulaE) April 13, 2024
