Rowland continues strong season as Ticktum takes top result in Tokyo

Jodie Saxon
14 hours ago
5 min read

Despite tough competition in the form of reigning champion Pascal Wehrlein and Cupra Kiro’s Dan Ticktum, the unstoppable Oliver Rowland continued his podium streak by taking the win in the second of the two Tokyo E-Prix this season.

*Ticktum may not have won the race, but he was certainly the star of round 9 | Credit: Simon Galloway/LAT Images*

The Nissan driver had a near perfect day in from of his team’s home crowd, taking pole position in qualifying and making a comeback at the end of the race after losing the lead during the Attack Mode cylces. Ticktum also had a strong outing, qualifying second and finishing in 3rd to take his first podium in the all-electric championship, while it was another disaster day for Mitch Evans who was unable to start the race following his qualifying crash.

How it happened:

21 drivers lined up on the grid to take the start and 21 made it through the first turns, with Oliver Rowland keeping a firm grip on his lead as Wehrlein tussled with Ticktum over 2nd position. A mid-pack carbon fibre crunch led to investigations against several drivers, but nothing came of it.

*Rowland added yet another pole position to his collection this season - that's three now | Credit: Simon Galloway/LAT Images*

Envision Racing’s Robin Frijns dove into the pits to serve his 10-second stop go penalty, the punishment having been handed to him in replacement of a 20-place grid penalty that the Dutchman was unable to serve after qualifying at the rear of the field.

Back on track Maserati’s Jake Hughes was the first to take Attack Mode, making use of the strategies that worked so well for other drivers in previous rounds. His advantage was quickly extinguished, however, when it materialised that most of the grid were looking to go for the early Attack Mode strategy and it didn’t take long for more drivers to be in the mode than not.

Nyck de Vries drew attention for all the wrong reasons when his front wing was noted to broken and at risk of going under his tyres, the cause of this damage was earlier contact with the rear end of Sam Bird’s McLaren. His wing falling off later caused a Full Course Yellow (FCY) on lap 12, but not before Rowland’s lack of Attack Mode caused him to drop behind Ticktum, Wehrlein and Barnard - with Ticktum taking the lead of the race to the shock and delight of the commentary team.

During the FCY, António Félix da Costa retired from the race having made contact with Edoardo Mortara while braking for the FCY.

When the race went green again only a few were in Attack Mode, the sole Jaguar Racing car left in the race made use of this quiet moment to take it and power his way into the top 10. Nick Cassidy had a tough Saturday race and initially finished 11th before being promoted into 10th after penalties, and was looking to salvage a strong result out of what was proving to be a difficult weekend for the Big Cat.

*Not much was left of Evans' car after his tangle with the wall in qualifying, luckily he was okay | Credit: Simon Galloway/LAT Images*

Ticktum lost his lead to Wehrlein at the halfway point of the race with Barnard rounding out the top three. Rowland went for his first Attack Mode at that point, taking only two minutes and losing two positions in the process.

The Andretti cars, that had started at the back of the grid, began their ascent into the top 10 with Jake Dennis leading the charge and muscling his way into the leading pack. As the top trio went into Attack Mode, Rowland cycled back into the podium positions with only Wehrlein retaining his position as race leader.

A few laps prior it had looked as if Rowland’s late, short Attack Mode was a mistake, but when Wehrlein’s boost ran out Rowland still had one minute remaining and was able to make use of this and slip by into the race lead on lap 26.

This opened the door for all sorts of drama in the closing laps as the leading pack became tighter and tighter. Mortara and Barnard squabbled over fourth position, before Barnard had an injection of confidence and clawed his way past Ticktum and into the top three. Rowland and Wehrlein banged wheels together as they went side by side in the battle for victory, the British driver representing Nissan managing to come out on top once more while Ticktum’s brave moves were rewarded with a shot at second.

Dennis involved himself in the battle, making it a six-way struggle for the podium positions, but the fun turned sour all too soon when Mortara made contact with Barnard and sent the young Brit straight into the barriers.

*A strong Saturday turned into a nothing Sunday for Vandoorne | Credit: Simon Galloway/LAT Images*

A safety car was called with only a few laps remaining to allow for the recovery of the stricken McLaren. It was during this safety car period that Stoffel Vandoorne, Saturday’s race winner, quietly entered the pits and retired after an unfortunately anonymous race – but that is the duality of Formula E, one day a driver can be winning and on top of the world and the next they can be nowhere.

Mortara was handed a five-second penalty for his troubles, which dropped him out of the points after the chequered flag. Despite a single lap shootout giving Wehrlein the opportunity to snatch victory, it was Rowland who came home in triumph, while Ticktum clung onto third to take his and Kiro’s first podium in Formula E.

Looking ahead

Rowland leaves Tokyo with a whopping 77-point lead over the second placed Wehrlein, while Da Costa still sits in 3rd despite not scoring any points on Sunday. The next stop for Formula E is Shanghai, where last year Da Costa claimed a stunning victory on Sunday’s race as part of his late-season comeback.

A race in Jakarta will follow in June, before the championship returns to Europe for the final pair of double-headers. With the season now past its halfway point, the title battle will certainly heat up and drivers will battle harder than ever before!