Edoardo Mortara admitted he was not sure they could turn around the Marrakesh E-Prix weekend after troubles in free practice, but the Swiss racer was a man on a mission during the race as he took victory for the third time this season.
The ROKiT Venturi Racing driver managed to qualify on the front row in Morocco after getting into the final of the duels, although he missed out on pole position to DS Techeetah’s António Félix da Costa.
And Mortara was then embroiled in a battle with the Portuguese driver for the lead, coming out on top as the two traded attack modes, and from there on, he was in complete control to take the win and the lead in the championship away from Stoffel Vandoorne.
Mortara admitted the high temperatures in Marrakech made battery, tyre and energy management difficult, but he was pleased to come through to take the win, a victory he says the team can be proud of.
“Today’s win comes down to an incredible team effort and I’m extremely happy with this result,” said Mortara. “We showed some positive pace but then experienced some issues in FP2 and honestly, I wasn’t sure if we could turn it around.
“We did very well in qualifying to get on the front row and during the race, the team had a plan and strategy in place and it worked perfectly. There was a lot of pressure throughout from António [Félix da Costa] and JEV [Jean-Éric Vergne], and the high temperatures made the battery, tyres and energy difficult to manage.
“In the end, we managed everything perfectly and we can be very proud about this result.”
“I’m very happy with my performance today” – Lucas di Grassi
Team-mate Lucas di Grassi gained five places from his starting spot to claim fifth place in Morocco, although he felt it could have been better had he not lost ground early on.
The Brazilian had strong pace and was able to regain his lost positions quickly, but it made the job to climb through the field and fight for the podium a lot more difficult.
He passed Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team’s Nyck de Vries on the final lap to claim that fifth place, and he felt the strategy calls made were key to his recovery.
“I’m very happy with my performance today,” said di Grassi. “I lost some ground at the start but my pace was strong and I was able to recover quite quickly.
“A clever strategy put us in a good position to challenge for a strong points haul and on the final lap, I was able to overtake Nyck [de Vries] to take home fifth place, with the fastest lap.
“Next up we have New York which is a track that I really enjoy and I’m confident that we can maintain our current form and momentum.”
