Maro Engel finished the inaugural, 2018 Zurich ePrix, in eleventh place while Edoardo Mortara had to withdraw from an action-packed race which left Venturi without a points finish.
The team was plagued with mechanical issues throughout the event, with Engel requiring a new gearbox and variator after shakedown. Then, following the end of free practice on Sunday, faulty batteries on Mortara’s cars had to be replaced.
Mortara clocked up the 14th fastest time in qualifying, while Engel lined up from 18th position.
But Mortara hadn’t shown his true potential, and soon climbed into the points-paying positions, but less than a quarter of the way through the race, his suspension broke, thus meaning that Mortara ended his first race on home ground just a few laps into the race.
This left all hope with Maro Engel, but any potential strategy gain by staying out was negated by the full-course yellow on lap 19, which forced him in early and he could only recover to P11 by the end of the race.
The mood in the Venturi camp was glum after the race, with Engel saying: “The full course yellow ruined our strategy because we were planning to complete 21 laps with the first car. That would have kept us on the circuit longer than our competitors.”
“To do this, we were in defensive mode for the first half of the race. It was working well, but we had to make the pit stop during the full course yellow when it was declared at the 19th lap. It’s frustrating to leave the first car with a battery still at 15%. Despite under-performing in the qualifying session, we had a real chance at scoring some good points today.”
Home hero, Mortara was similarly downbeat, saying: “It’s too bad because it was all going well, both the energy management and battery temperature. We were definitely heading for the top 10 because we were more competitive than our main rivals, but then the suspension broke and I hit the wall.”
Venturi Team Principle, Gildo Pastor meanwhile added that: “Edoardo’s mechanical issue cut short the great show we were all watching unfold. It’s too bad. As for Maro, that was also bad luck because the full course yellow on the 19th thwarted our plans. Nevertheless, I’m looking ahead and we still have two great races to run.”
Venturi leave Zurich seventh in the team’s championship with the double-header season finale in New York City still to run on 14th and 15th July. This will be their final outing in the current generation Formula E car before the new car makes its racing debut at the first race of Season Five at Riydah in December.