Tokyo E-Prix: Guenther resists late Rowland pressure to win

The German took the lead of the race with 10 laps remaining, having circulated inside the top three throughout and built enough of a lead to retain the top position after taking his final Attack Mode.

Having managed the pace at the head of the field, Guenther came under attack from Rowland on the final lap with the Nissan driver making three notable attempts to overtake but failing to move ahead.

Polesitter Rowland had led for the majority of the 35-lap race, having held the position off the line despite being forced to defend from Edoardo Mortara, who had jumped Guenther from the cleaner and grippier side of the grid.

Concern from drivers that overtaking around the tight and twisty layout would be difficult proved to be correct, which meant track position was crucial, and in stark contrast to other races, Attack Mode activations took place much later in proceedings.

The leading positions remained unchanged for much of the opening segment, but when Mortara was forced to defend into the Turn 6 right-hander from Guenther on lap 10, the small break allowed Rowland to take his first of two Attack Modes the following lap and retain the lead.

Mortara also took his extra boost of power on the same lap, promoting Guenther up a position before he found himself in the lead when Rowland took his second Attack Mode on lap 13.

Guenther dropped down to third on lap 14 after taking his first Attack Mode, but immediately moved back into second after passing Mortara on the run into Turn 16.

Thereafter, Guenther shadowed Rowland, and when the Nissan driver lifted off to save energy on the run into the Turn 10/11 chicane, Guenther took a lead he was never to relinquish.

Behind, reigning champion Jake Dennis finished third after an overtake on Antonio Felix da Costa three laps from the end when the Porsche driver lost momentum after an optimistic move around the outside of Rowland into Turn 15.

The Portuguese driver retained fourth at the flag ahead of team-mate Pascal Wehrlein, who had lost ground after running side by side with Dennis through the final sequence of corners, which pushed him back two positions mid-race.

Mortara had dropped to sixth at the flag after taking his final Attack Mode just five laps from the end, but he was disqualified post-race for energy over usage.

It promoted Andretti's Norman Nato to sixth and Abt’s Nico Muller to seventh, with Jaguar’s Nick Cassidy taking eighth having recovered from a starting position of 19th.

It was a difficult day for team-mate Mitch Evans, as the Kiwi finished 14th after stopping for a new front wing following contact with Robin Frijns into Turn 6, the debris bringing out a safety car as the race was extended by two laps.

Frijns also lost his front wing after contact with Nato at the same corner, with the Frenchman initially handed a five-second penalty that dropped him from sixth and out of the points.

However, this was rescinded post-race after onboard footage was provided to the stewards that showed neither driver was predominantly to blame. It meant Nato was classified sixth from Cassidy and Frijns, with Sergio Sette Camara (ERT) completing the top 10.

 2024 Tokyo E-Prix

Main Information Additional Data Additional Data Driver Info

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Main Information Additional Data 1  -  2
Cla	Driver	#		Laps	Time	Interval	km/h	Points	Retirement
1	M. Gunther Maserati Racing	7		35	53'34.665			26
2	O. Rowland Nissan e.dams	22		35	+0.755 53'35.420	0.755		21
3	J. Dennis Andretti Formula E	1		35	+1.405 53'36.070	0.650		15
4	A. Felix da Costa Porsche Team	13		35	+1.822 53'36.487	0.417		12
5	P. Wehrlein Porsche Team	94		35	+3.897 53'38.562	2.075		10
dq	E. Mortara Mahindra Racing	48		35	+4.354 53'39.019	0.457
6	N. Müller Team Abt	51		35	+4.983 53'39.648	0.629		8
7	N. Cassidy Jaguar Racing	37		35	+5.542 53'40.207	0.559		6
8	R. Frijns Envision Racing	4		35	+5.929 53'40.594	0.387		4
9	S. Sette Camara ERT Formula E Team	3		35	+6.504 53'41.169	0.575		2
10	S. Fenestraz Nissan e.dams	23		35	+7.016 53'41.681	0.512		1
11	J. Vergne DS Penske	25		35	+7.583 53'42.248	0.567
12	S. Buemi Envision Racing	16		35	+8.467 53'43.132	0.884
13	J. Hughes McLaren	5		35	+8.859 53'43.524	0.392
14	M. Evans Jaguar Racing	9		35	+9.316 53'43.981	0.457
15	N. Nato Andretti Formula E	17		35	+9.573 53'44.238	0.257
16	S. Vandoorne DS Penske	2		35	+9.735 53'44.400	0.162
17	J. Daruvala Maserati Racing	18		35	+15.096 53'49.761	5.361
18	D. Ticktum ERT Formula E Team	33		35	+49.418 54'24.083	34.322
19	S. Bird McLaren	8		34	+1 Lap 54'10.461	1 Lap
dnf	L. di Grassi Team Abt	11		17	+18 Laps 24'13.474	17 Laps			Retirement
dnf	N. de Vries Mahindra Racing	21		17	+18 Laps 24'14.011	0.537			Retirement
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