FE | Rome E-Prix 2022 | Evans doubles the win, historically conquering Rome again in Race 5
Mitch Evans is unstappable: the Jaguar TCS Racing wins both Rome races, arriving at three wins in the Eternal City ahead of Vergne and Frijns
It’s Jaguar TCS Racing’s Mitch Evans the new King of Rome: the Kiwi driver topped the others by winning again in the Eternal City, getting to a full-weekend victory in both events and reaching an historical record of three-time wins here in Rome.
The poleman Vergne was pulled away from the lead almost immediately by his former teammate Andrè Lotterer, who passed Dennis to arrive in second position. The Avalanche Andretti driver took back his position very quickly, as they come up to the top of the hill at Turn 7.
After just five mintes from the beginning of the race, Alex Sims and Max Gunther collided resulting in the German driver withdrawing from the race.
By this time, Jake Dennis was already losing pace as Lotterer come in to reclaim back the second place, before surrendering to yesterday’s winner Evans, who passed him into third.
In Turn 4, Mortara tried to pass da Costa but the Portuguese blocked in, causing a damage to the ROKiT Venturi car. A damage increased by Mortara himself who clipped past the wall on Turn 19 and retiring from a suspected driveshaft failure. The Saftey Car came in after 24 minutes from the start, when the home driver Giovinazzi stopped on track between Turn 8 and 9.
At this point, Dennis was keep slipping behind, being seventh when in the front Evans is leading Vergne, Lotterer and Frijns. The Dutch exploited the ATTACK MODE, so he could overcome Evans on Turn 7. A lead who is soon taken by Lotterer, who used the ATTACK MODE when behind da Costa took a 5-minute penalty for colliding with Mortara.
Sims let his Mahindra have a spin at Turn 14 so the Safety Car had to enter once more, and an Extra Time of 5 minutes and 15 seconds is called to extend the race. This is the perfect time for Evans to use his eight minutes od ATTACK MODE and catch Lotter on Turn 7. The German was overcomed by Vergne too and Frijns used the situation to pass Lotterer as well and become third. The Safety Car appeared again – shortly, this time – to let the time to remove Cassidy’s Envision, as the British hit the wall.
The suspense was still high at the end of the race, as Vergne came up to try and catch Evans, who resisted and crossed the line to win the last race of this entertaining back-to-back. “Veni, Vidi, Vici”: more than Julius Caesar, this motto (from Latin, “I came, I saw, I won”) this weekend belongs to Evans.
Incredible racing in @FIAFormulaE this weekend. Congrats on your perfect weekend @mitchevans_ 💃🙌🏻 #FE
— Daniel Abt (@Daniel_Abt) April 10, 2022
