Guenther fends off Rowland with strategy masterclass to take Tokyo victory

Maximilian Guenther (Maserati MSG Racing) took his first win of the season at the inaugural Tokyo E-Prix with a masterclass in race management.

Pole sitter Oliver Rowland (Nissan Formula E Team) looked in control early on at his team’s home race but gave up the lead with an energy deficit with 10 laps to go, hoping to regain the position later on.

However, having inherited P1, Guenther made no mistake and defended from Rowland on the final lap to bring P1 home.

“Amazing, just an incredible weekend,” Guenther said post-race. “I think we performed so well, we were in the top three in every session, almost got the pole earlier on, and now this race win, it feels so special. Just an amazing job by everybody.

“I feel great in the car, we’ve made some really good steps in the last few weeks. I think in Sao Paulo everyone could see that we have really good pace and today we converted it into a win. It’s amazing, I’m really proud of this and now we enjoy the moment.

“It was a lot of energy management today. We did everything we had to do, I think we covered ourselves well. It was super super tight on the last lap even, and it was perfectly executed; the strategy, the moves, everything, so it was a good run today.”

Rowland took the holeshot at lights out, fighting off Edoardo Mortara (Mahindra Racing) while Guenther dropped one position into third.

With the field all bunched up, it took until Lap 9 for the first front runner to deploy an attack mod – Pascal Wehrlein profiting from some help from his TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team colleague Antonio Felix Da Costa to hold onto fifth position.

Rowland meanwhile had the hammer down out front and created enough of a gap to rejoin the field still in the lead when he deployed his first attack mode on Lap 11. Also going wide, Mortara fell behind Guenther into third.

Now in runner-up spot, Guenther haunted Rowland and when the Nissan driver deployed his second attack mode on Lap 13, Guenther inherited the lead. One lap later though, Guenther was the one to go wide and fell into third behind Mortara only to reclaim the position on track moments later.

Meanwhile Da Costa had been on the move and sent it down the inside of Jake Dennis (Andretti Formula E) to take fourth. Dennis finally deployed his first attack mode shortly after, profiting from the assistance of his team-mate Norman Nato in sixth who held up the field and allowed the reigning world champion to rejoin without losing a position.

The safety car came out on Lap 20 in response to debris scattered on track in an incident involving Mitch Evans (Jaguar TCS Racing) and Lucas Di Grassi (ABT Cupra Formula E Team) further down the order.

When the safety car retired, Rowland found himself at an energy deficit. He allowed Guenther past on Lap 25 to conserve, hoping to regain the position later on.

However, still having one attack mode left to deploy, Guenther pulled the pin in response. The Maserati driver created a gap of more than a second over the course of one lap and when he went wide, he was able to still hold on to the lead.

Behind, Mortara too went for his second attack mode but he did surrender a position, forced to let Dennis past into fourth. Right ahead of him, Da Costa was eyeing up Rowland for runner-up spot.

Da Costa attempted his move with two laps to go, attacking Rowland round the outside at Turn 15. However, the Porsche driver couldn’t make it stick and instead lost momentum, falling into fourth behind Dennis.

Having rebalanced his energy levels, Rowland launched a late assault on Guenther on the final lap and attacked ferociously. However, Guenther stood firm and brought the win home for Maserati.

Rowland had to settle for second, securing his third podium running: “I mean, it’s good; if someone had offered me pole and second, of course I’d have snapped their hand off,” he said.

“But yeah, I led the whole race, but it was tricky after the safety car. I dropped the target so much that I just couldn’t hang on any more and I knew I had to relinquish. When I was behind, the car was mega, it’s just a bit of strategy in Formula E and we’ve not been in the right place at the right time.

“I don’t think we could have asked for much more [at Nissan’s home race]. The big bosses will be pretty happy with what they have seen. I’m just a little bit disappointed I didn’t get the win, but I have to be grateful – I’ve got an amazing car, three podiums in a row. If you’d offered me that at the start of the season, I’d have definitely took it.”

Dennis secured the final podium position while Da Costa concluded the race off the rostrum in fourth after his aggressive move in the late stages didn’t come off.

“I’m not one to just sit and look,” the Portuguese driver said.

“I thought I had the pace advantage and the energy advantage and I tried a move on the outside – I know it’s always risky, but [Rowland] didn’t leave me enough room and I had to brake, otherwise I would have hit the wall, and then I lost out to Jake [Dennis], lost out on the podium.

“Disappointed, but I have to assume that some people are cleaner than others and these are all super aggressive drivers. Aggressive is fine, but over the limit is another one. If I don’t brake, I crash out of the race there. So, a little bit disappointed with that. I hope they look into it because if we open a precedent for this, then … it is what it is.”

Matters were even worse for Mortara who fought he had finally secured points for Mahindra in fifth but was disqualified for energy overconsumption. Instead, Wehrlein claimed fifth ahead of Nico Muller (ABT Cupra Formula E Team).

Nick Cassidy (Jaguar TCS Racing) came back from 19th on the grid to finish seventh and just hold on to the championship lead, now tied on points with Wehrlein.

“It’s been a tough race, to be honest,” Cassidy admitted.

“I think we were quite quick, the progress shows that. The start of the race was pretty calm, but there was always action going to come and it was coming all the time. So it was difficult to stay clean; that was the target today, a clean race and we managed to do that.”

Robin Frijns (Envision Racing) came home in ninth, just ahead of Sergio Sette Camara (ERT Formula E Team) while Sacha Fenestraz (Nissan Formula E Team) rounded out the top 10.

It’s been a roller coaster of a race, going from Rowland looking to have it in the bag to Guenther stealing it with a strategy masterclass.

Rowland looked good for the win, even when he surrendered the lead to Guenther, with his opponent still needing to deploy one more attack mode. However, it quickly became evident that Guenther had the superior energy management from the start and his strategy execution was nothing short of perfection.

From pulling a gap to maintaining the lead despite going wide for attack mode, to having the resources to defend from a charging Rowland on the final lap, Guenther and Maserati delivered a clinical performance and earned their first win of the season.

1/33: ROWLAND DEFENDS FROM POLE – Dream start from Rowland who fights off Mortara who is going for it into Turn 1. Guenther falls into third while Dennis makes up a position into fourth.

8/33: NO ATTACK STILL – Everyone down to 16th still hasn’t deployed an attack mode. With the field so bunched up, the drivers look inclined to wait it out for now and hope for some clear air later on.

11/33: ATTACK MODES! – A bunch of drivers now head for an attack mode, including Rowland who has enough of a gap to rejoin the field still in the lead. Guenther inherits second with Mortara out in attack and back in third.

13/33: SECOND ATTACK FOR ROWLAND – Rowland deploys his second attack mode and this time loses a position, falling behind Guenther. Of course, Guenther still has two attack modes left to go.

20/33: SAFETY CAR OUT – The safety car is out on track in response to debris scattered on the track in the Evans incident.

25/33: SWAP AT THE FRONT – Rowland gives up the lead to Guenther, likely to save energy for now with the perspective of regaining the position later on.

28/33: GUENTHER IN ATTACK, KEEPS LEAD – Having gained an advantage, Guenther deploys his second attack mode and rejoins the field still in the lead. This has worked out beautifully for him.

33/35: DA COSTA ATTACKS, LOSES OUT – Da Costa attacks Rowland round the outside through Turn 15 but can’t make it stick. Instead, he loses momentum and falls into fourth.

35/35: GUENTHER WINS IN TOKYO – Rowland tries everything, but Guenther stands firm and takes the win for Maserati. Dennis brings home the remaining podium position.