Zapping The Blogauto Megane e tech review
Absent from the calendar last season, the Marrakech circuit once again hosted Formula E for the 10th round of the championship.
Mastery Mortara
The Swiss Edoardo Mortara, the former DTM driver, took his third victory of the season. The battery management and boost strategy here was dictated by hot weather conditions, with the teams looking to ward off the threat of overheating batteries, prompting them to rush an unusually early switch of attack modes among the leaders.
DS driver Da Costa was starting from pole position, but he decided to use his attack modes very quickly, which ultimately made Mortara’s game. On lap 8, when Da Costa activated his second mode, Mortara did not follow and took an extra lap before engaging his own attack mode, which left him with enough gap on da Costa to keep the leadership.
Non-paying strategy for DS
From there, the Venturi driver began to manage his lead, as the Techeetah drivers argued with Jaguar driver Mitch Evans. Jean-Eric Vergne saved his energy for a late push and, after dropping to sixth at one point , started to climb back up the ranks to return to third place just behind his teammate Da Costa.
DS played team strategy, Da Costa letting Vergne through who had an extra 2% battery charge over Mortara and was encouraged to use it to get close – but he was unable to sufficiently reduce Mortara’s lead. When Vergne’s energy advantage had dissipated, Techeetah gave priority back to Da Costa to put pressure on the leader.
But although the Portuguese driver looms in Mortara’s rear-view mirrors, he was unable to secure a first win of the season as Mortara expertly managed his pace. Vergne fell considerably at the end of the race, finding himself under pressure from Evans for the final lap. On the last lap, Vergne took off early and surprised the Jaguar driver – but Evans had the presence of mind to pass and claim a podium.
Lucas di Grassi enjoyed a steady climb through the field and, although he was passed late for fifth by Nyck de Vries, the Brazilian reclaimed the position on the final lap. De Vries was unable to to provide an answer to di Grassi’s late onslaught despite an energetic advantage at the end.Stoffel Vandoorne salvaged eighth place after qualifying from a lowly 20th place following braking problems, putting on a well-managed race to push into the stitches.
A very tight championship
The Belgian loses command of the championship. Edoardo Mortara does double duty since this 3rd victory allows him to take the lead in the championship with 139 points, ahead of Jean-Eric Vergne (128 pts) who has not yet won this season but enjoys excellent consistency with 7 top 5 in 10 races. Vandoorne drops to 3rd place with 125 points, just one unit ahead of Mitch Evans. The hole is made with the 5th since Frijns has only 81 points. The fight also promises on the side of the teams since only 7 points separate the leader Rokit Venturi from DS Techeetah and Mercedes.
Final ranking
1- Edoardo Mortara (SUI/Venturi) in 46’45”410
2- Antonio Felix da Costa (POR / DS Techeetah) at 2”297
3- Mitch Evans (NZL / Jaguar) at 6”270
4- Jean-Eric Vergne (FRA / DS Techeetah) at 6”965
5- Lucas di Grassi (BRE / Venturi) at 7”787
Ranking of the drivers’ world championship after 10 races (out of 16)
1- Edoardo Mortara (SUI/Venturi) 139 points
2- Jean-Eric Vergne (FRA/DS Techeetah) 128
3- Stoffel Vandoorne (BEL/Mercedes) 125
4- Mitch Evans (NZL/Jaguar) 124
5- Robin Frijns (PBS/Envision) 81
Ranking of the stables world championship after 10 races (out of 16)
1- Venturi 205 points
2- DS Techeetah 203
3–Mercedes 198
4- Jaguar 155
5- Porsche 116
to summarize
The Swiss Edoardo Mortara, driver of the Rokit Venturi team, won the 10th round of the season in Marrakech and took control of the championship, after a failed weekend for the leader Stoffel Vandoorne and Mercedes. Jean-Eric Vergne, 4th in the race, is 2nd in the championship and in contention for the title.
