Despite not practising, round four saw ROKiT Venturi Racing's Edoardo Mortara land on Pole while Mahindra Racing's Pascal Wehrlein enjoyed a "special" day after clinching his second consecutive victory in the sim series, catapulting him into the championship lead.
With two back-to-back wins under his belt, Mahindra Racing's Pascal Wehrlein is looking like a strong contender for the ABB Formula E Race at Home Challenge in support of UNICEF.
After breaking through with his maiden sim win in round three on the streets of Monaco, the young Mahindra driver went on to claim his second consecutive victory on the virtual streets of Hong Kong.
“Today was a bit special because of the wet conditions in qualifying that we didn’t know about - that was unexpected for everyone!" said the new championship leader moments after the race.
For the first time in the competition, all 24 Formula E drivers had to contend with heavy rain in Qualifying, with no prior notice. Battling to keep their cars in a straight line with the slippery conditions, it was ROKiT Venturi Racing's Edoardo Mortara who claimed the Julius Baer Pole Position.
“(I am) really surprised to be on pole position," said Mortara ahead of race. "I will tell you the truth, I didn’t practice at all this week!
"But when I saw it was raining and the conditions were new for everyone, I thought that maybe it was a good thing for me and it gave me a chance to give it a go.”
Despite the advantage, the former real-world Hong Kong race winner failed to convert it into a win, giving way to Wehrlein after an error saw him catch the wall and drop down the order. Slipping past early on in the race, Wehrlein maintained the lead, crossing the line to pull ahead of his main championship rival Maximilian Guenther (BMW i Andretti Motorsport), to take the lead in the standings.
"The race was a bit chaotic at the beginning, my car was actually a bit damaged, the steering was to the left, but I was fast in dry conditions as well and brought it home,” added the new championship leader.
Now halfway through the competition, can Wehrlein hold on to the lead until the grand finale? Join us to find out.