TOKYO (Reuters) – Maserati’s Maximilian Guenther took victory in Formula E’s first race in Japan on Saturday to become the all-electric championship’s fifth different winner in as many races.
Five different teams have also won this season.
The German beat Nissan’s pole-sitter Oliver Rowland with reigning champion Jake Dennis completing the podium for Andretti.
Porsche’s Pascal Wehrlein, winner of the opener in Mexico City, finished fifth behind team mate Antonio Felix da Costa to take the overall lead from Jaguar’s Nick Cassidy, who was eighth.
Dennis and Cassidy won the two races in Saudi Arabia, with McLaren’s Sam Bird taking his team’s first victory in Sao Paulo on March 16.
Wehrlein has 63 points to Cassidy’s 61, with Rowland on 54 and Dennis on 53.
Jaguar top the team standings with 100 points to Porsche’s 83.
Guenther took the lead from Rowland on lap 24 of 35 as energy levels became critical and fended off the Briton, who made three attempts to pass, to the chequered flag in a race against the backdrop of Tokyo Bay.
The next two races are in Italy at the Misano circuit on the Adriatic coast on April 13 and 14.
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin in London, editing by Ed Osmond)
Source Agencies
