Maiden win for Nato caps Venturi's best season yet

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Maiden win for Nato caps Venturi's best season yet

Maiden win for Nato caps Venturi's best season yet

Norman Nato capped his rookie season, and ROKiT Venturi Racing's best-yet in the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship with a commanding victory in Berlin.

Norman Nato capped a fine season for ROKiT Venturi Racing with a collected race win in the Berlin finale - a silver lining to the shocking start-line crash that cruelly took Edoardo Mortara out of title contention before he'd made it past the start/finish.

CATCH UP: Watch the best of the Berlin E-Prix finale

The Swiss-Italian struck the rear of Mitch Evans' Jaguar, which failed to get away. That immediately ended his chances of toppling Nyck de Vries from top spot in the standings. Mortara - who sustained a minor fracture of his fourth vertabrae and was cleared to leave hospital after checks - did manage to keep his hands on second place in the Drivers' World Championship, though, by the time the chequered flag fell. 

 

Hit the front, and never looked back

With Mortara out of the race, Nato took it upon himself to bring home the silverware for Venturi. A disappointing non-start having made Super Pole meant he couldn't set a lap, but that didn't deter the rookie, and his climb through the order during ATTACK MODE activation past Alex Sims (Mahindra Racing), Oliver Rowland (Nissan e.dams and Stoffel Vandoorne (Mercedes-EQ) was meteoric.

Once he hit the front, he looked - and felt - unstoppable, as he strode to a maiden win by more than two seconds.

“Today we executed the perfect race and honestly, I’m shocked and speechless," says the 29-year-old. "I’ve been hungry for silverware for a very long time after losing my podiums in Rome and Valencia because I was disqualified and had a penalty that cost me. When you have this kind of day when you get to put everything together it’s just an incredible feeling.

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“Every week, we put in a massive amount of work with the hope of achieving results like this. The car was flawless and really easy to manage energy. It felt like I was driving a rocketship and it was just perfect.

“From my perspective, the race was very tense, especially after the second Safety Car restart when Ollie (Rowland) tried to overtake but in the end, we came out on top. It feels great to end the season with a win and this is a moment I just want to enjoy. I would like to thank the entire team for supporting me this season and getting me to the top step. I’m proud of them and a result like this means the world.”

Wolff: 'I'm incredibly proud'

That result, despite Mortara's misfortune, helped the team to seventh in the Teams' standings and a record 146-point haul, leaving Team Principal Susie Wolff delighed.

“I’m incredibly proud of the team. Coming into this weekend, we knew that we had to hit the ground running and score big to end the season on a high and that’s exactly what we did.

"It was heartbreaking to see Edo out before he had a chance to fight for the title but he has done an outstanding job all season. The car was incredibly quick today and Norman drove the perfect race and the team executed a perfect strategy.

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"We’ve had our tough moments this season, but we’ve learnt from those challenging days and risen from them. If you told me at the start of the season that we would secure the vice-World Championship and seventh in the Teams’ Standings, I would have taken it and overall, as a team, we can be proud.

"Thankfully Edo is in good shape despite his accident and we have definitely ended the season on a high. Lastly, I want to wish a big congratulations to Mercedes-Benz on their double ABB FIA Formula E World Championships. We have a great partnership, and to have both of us finish first and second in the Drivers’ World Championship is something to be proud of.”