Mitch Evans wins Seoul E-Prix double-header opening race to keep Formula E title hopes alive

SEOUL: Mitch Evans produced under pressure to keep his title chances alive and slice into Stoffel Vandoorne’s points advantage as the Kiwi jumped from third on the grid to win the 2022 Hana Bank Seoul E-Prix in style on Saturday.

Championship leader Vandoorne finished fifth to see his lead now reduced to 21 points with Evans second, meaning Sunday’s final race of the season will determine the winner of this year’s championship.

On Saturday, Evans of Jaguar TCS Racing driver dispatched Julius Bär polesitter Oliver Rowland (Mahindra Racing) off the line as the Brit struggled to get away cleanly over greasy road markings, the circuit still soaked from an earlier downpour. Evans then rounded Lucas di Grassi (ROKiT Venturi Racing) with a stealthy move into Turn 3 on the opening lap and did not look back.

It was an incident-packed opening lap as a multi-car shunt at the penultimate corner caused a 45-minute red flag stoppage. Sébastien Buemi, Oliver Askew, André Lotterer, Dan Ticktum, Oliver Turvey, Nick Cassidy, Norman Nato and Nyck de Vries were all caught out by standing water to hit the wall. There was an audible gasp from the stadium crowd as they saw de Vries’ Silver Arrow 02 undercut Buemi’s Nissan, which came to rest on top of the Dutchman’s car. Thankfully, there were no injuries.

After the restart, it was a relatively serene Saturday afternoon for Evans, who eased to a comfortable three-second gap for much of the race ahead of Rowland. The Brit was happy to seal his first podium finish of the season and his first with Mahindra.

After his win, Evans said: “That was the plan (to keep the Championship race alive). It has been a lot of work since London to make sure we can make this result possible. This morning