Nissan driver Oliver Rowland wins Race 2 of the Tokyo E-Prix double-header after a daring move around the outside of Pascal Wehrlein.
In front of the team’s home crowd, the British driver recovered after dropping down the order in the first half of the race to claim victory ahead of the Porsche.
Dan Ticktum took his first-ever podium in the series after Taylor Barnard’s crash in the final few laps.
The NEOM McLaren driver was sent into the wall by Edoardo Mortara in the Mahindra Racing car.
Before the race, it was announced that the Jaguar of Mitch Evans would not be starting the race after his crash in the earlier qualifying session.
Ticktum leads in the early stages
Rowland held onto his race lead at the start in the Nissan as Ticktum was forced to defend his position on the front row in the opening corners.
Barnard made a good start up from ninth on the grid and into sixth place.
Robert Frijns was handed a 10-second time penalty as the Envision Racing driver headed for the pits.
Jake Hughes was the first to take Attack Mode for Maserati MSG Racing on Lap 4, down in 15th place.
Nyck de Vries, Maximilian Gunther and Sebastian Buemi were the next drivers to take the energy boost on the following lap, all outside of the top 10.
Sixth-placed Barnard then activated his Attack Mode, initially dropping to seventh before moving up to fifth place.
Suddenly, all of the lead drivers opted for the boost as race leader Rowland was one of the few drivers not to on Lap 7.
Therefore, Ticktum took the lead of the race on Lap 8 as the British driver had two and a half minutes left of his Attack Mode.
Wehrlein takes the race lead
The McLaren of Barnard had found his way up to third and soon passed the Nissan driver for second as the seconds ticked down on his energy boost.
Rowland then dropped to fourth behind the Porsche of Wehrlein, who soon made his way past Barnard as his Attack Mode ended.
In the top 10, Rowland was the only driver with the full eight minutes left of his boost on Lap 10.
By Lap 12, Ticktum remained in the lead ahead of Wehrlein and Barnard as a full-course yellow flag was called by the FIA race stewards with de Vries’ front wing on the track.
The Dutchman braked way too late through Turns 10 and 11, into the back of Sam Bird, receiving a black and white flag from the officials.
Antonio Felix da Costa retired from the race at the same time following suspension damage with his Porsche –replays showing him running into the back of the car ahead before the yellow flags.
The racing resumed on Lap 13 with the top drivers all on a similar energy usage, but Rowland still having all of his Attack Modes left.
The order stood as Ticktum, Wehrlein, Barnard, Rowland and Edoardo Mortara in the top five.
The German in the Porsche took the lead, not captured by the race broadcast, as Rowland finally took his Attack Mode, slipping down to sixth.
Nick Cassidy for Jaguar had jumped to fifth as his Attack Mode ended as the Nissan made his way past.
Rowland executes a fine move for victory
On Lap 18, Rowland almost made contact with Mortara ahead as his Attack Mode ended, losing one place overall throughout his energy boost.
The Nissan of Norman Nato received a five-second time penalty down in ninth place.
Jake Dennis for Andretti moved up to fifth with his Attack Boost, past Rowland, who now occupied sixth place, then eventually passed Mortara for fourth on Lap 21.
Rowland took his final Attack Mode on the next lap and made swift work of Mortara and Dennis.
The top three then activated their final Attack Mode, with Rowland up and into second, but Wehrlein kept his lead on Lap 23.
Jean-Eric Vergne for DS Penske had made his way up to fifth with a smart usage of his Attack Mode, Dennis and Mortara down to sixth and seventh respectivley.
On Lap 25, the fight for the race lead raged on as Ticktum held an advantage of having slightly more energy left in the tank than Wehrlein and Rowland.
As Attack Mode ran out for most of the frontrunners, Rowland used the last of his energy boost to attack Wehrlein for the race victory.
Rowland bravely went around the outside, squeezed to the wall by Wehrlein, somehow making his way through for first place on the track.
Rowland extends championship lead with victory in Race 2
Mortara activated Attack Boost and applied the pressure to Barnard in fourth, as the rookie held on superbly,
The Swiss driver settled in fifth, Dennis in sixth and out of nowhere, the McLaren turned defence into attack and took third from Ticktum.
Wehrlein on Lap 28 made a lunge for the lead but Rowland held position, before the race leaders bunched up in an epic sequence of corners.
The chaos unfolded as Rowland attempted to recover his energy and Barnard soon found himself in the barriers, ending his race on Lap 29.
Contact from Mortara damaged the suspension on his car, a sad end to his race day in Tokyo.
Ticktum had already passed Barnard and retook the final podium spot as the Safety Car calmed the proceedings down to clear the stricken McLaren car.
Mortara was handed a five-second time penalty for the incident, denying him a chance of a top-five finish.
The Safety Car peeled into the pits, allowing a final lap of racing, Hughes taking Attack Mode further down the order.
However, Rowland held on for the win ahead of Wehrlein in second and Ticktum with his best result of his Formula E career.
Dennis finished in fourth, di Grassi in fifth, Vergne sixth, Cassidy seventh, Bird eighth, Buemi ninth and Gunther in 10th place – rounding off the top 10.
READ MORE – Tokyo E-Prix: Dan Ticktum crash hands pole to Oliver Rowland
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