LONDON: Nyck de Vries claimed his second Formula E victory of the season on Sunday as Mahindra Racing collected 38 points across the Tokyo E-Prix double-header to move within one point of third place in the Teams’ Championship.
The Dutch driver mastered difficult wet-to-dry conditions to win the second race of the weekend after climbing from fifth on the grid, securing the sixth Formula E victory of his career and Mahindra’s second win of the campaign.
The result marks the first time the Indian manufacturer have won multiple races in a single Formula E season since 2017-18.
Teammate Edoardo Mortara also enjoyed a strong weekend despite retiring from Sunday’s race following a late multi-car incident. The Swiss driver claimed his fourth pole position of the season — equaling the Formula E record for poles in a single campaign — after topping qualifying and defeating Antonio Felix da Costa in the final duel.
Mortara had also shown strong pace on Saturday, qualifying second before finishing fifth after battling for a podium place for much of the race. De Vries, meanwhile, was forced to settle for 17th after suffering a puncture on the opening lap.
Sunday’s race began behind the safety car following heavy rain, with Mortara holding the lead in the early stages before changing track conditions and differing tire strategies reshuffled the order.
After struggling early, de Vries timed his Attack Mode deployment perfectly, surging through the field to take the lead with six minutes of additional power remaining.
A late red flag, caused by the incident that eliminated Mortara, left de Vries facing a one-lap sprint to the finish against Nick Cassidy and Jake Dennis. The Mahindra driver held off both challengers to seal victory.
De Vries said: “We were a little bit lucky today. We opted for a drying track and, in hindsight, that worked out in our favor. We got a poor start, but it was very important to save energy at the beginning because once the track dried, you needed it.
“We also had some luck with the red flag because Jake Dennis was coming on strong in Attack Mode. I’m very happy and proud of the team, who executed a great race to get our second win of the season.”
Mortara admitted his race unraveled after choosing a wet-weather setup.
“It’s a disappointing result on a day when we showed quite a lot of performance,” he said. “When you start from pole and everything is fully wet, there’s very little to gamble.
“I started with the wet setup, and this wasn’t the right call. But fortunately we split the strategy, and it worked out very well for Nyck, so I’m very happy for the team.”
Team principal and CEO Frederic Bertrand praised both drivers after Mahindra strengthened their championship challenge.
“It was a strong result for the team in what was a challenging weekend,” he said. “Our pace over one lap was excellent, with Edoardo securing pole and Nyck qualifying fifth. It shows we are among the most competitive teams in qualifying.
“Today was a bit of a gamble with the setup, but Nyck managed an impressive drive to take his second win of the season, which has had a big impact on our position in the Teams’ Championship.”
Mahindra left Tokyo fourth in the teams’ standings on 210 points, just one point behind Andretti with two rounds remaining. De Vries is ninth in the Drivers’ Championship, while Mortara sits fifth ahead of the season’s finale in London on Aug. 15-16.
