Formula E Season 8 success at last for ROKiT after Berlin E-Prix win

BERLIN: ROKiT Venturi Racing claimed victory in the first part of the 2022 Berlin E-Prix double-header weekend after Edoardo Mortara triumphed at the Tempelhof Circuit after starting from pole position on Saturday.

Throughout the day in the German capital, the Monegasque team showed promising pace and capitalized on its performance in qualifying for the seventh race of Season 8.

From Group A, Mortara successfully advanced to the duel stages while teammate, Lucas di Grassi, narrowly missed out on the top four to qualify 13th.

In the quarter and semi-finals, Swiss-Italian Mortara beat out Andre Lotterer and Antonio Felix da Costa before facing Alexander Sims in the one-on-one pole position shootout.

By defeating the Mahindra driver by 0.137 seconds, Mortara secured his first pole position in Formula E and ROKiT Venturi Racing’s first since the 2015 London E-Prix.

When the race got underway, the ROKiT driver obtained a strong getaway from the front row to lead into Turn One while Lucas slipped to 14th before making progress back through the field.

Navigating a path around Oliver Rowland, Sam Bird, Sergio Sette Camara and Jake Dennis, the Season 3 champion ascended to 10th before settling into a rhythm as the race evolved.

Mortara maintained the lead at the head of the field, meanwhile, and activated his first Attack Mode with 22 minutes remaining to fall to second before repassing Lotterer one lap later.

After running as high as eighth, a slow puncture forced Lucas to pit and later retire from the race to leave Mortara as ROKiT Venturi Racing’s sole challenger.

Opting to overcut Stoffel Vandoorne and André Lotterer on race strategy, Mortara repassed the pair with only seven minutes remaining after activating