Oliver Rowland has issued fighting talk to his Formula E rivals after moving into second place in the Drivers’ standings via a superb Monaco E-Prix victory.
The Briton stormed through the field from 12th on the grid to take his first victory of Season 12, fully igniting his credentials of retaining his World Championship.
Rowland is now on 109 points, 19 behind leader Mitch Evans, three ahead of Edorardo Mortara and six ahead of Pascal Wehrlein.
The win was a typical Rowland performance, perfectly mixing guile, aggression and intelligence to take a victory in the principality for the second season in a row.
After the race, Rowland told Motorsport Week that the win was on in Race 1, but this time, avoided chaos to leapfrog his rivals.
“I mean, we executed perfectly, I think,” he said. “Disappointed yesterday, to be honest, because I was kind of in a similar position. I was in ninth, 10th, looking one, two, three percent more up on energy compared to the others, but I had an unfortunate puncture.
“But, yeah, [I] stayed patient, stayed fast, stayed smooth and managed to attack when it was important and get the job done.”
At this point last season, Rowland was in the lead of the championship, with rivals looking at how to overcome his splendid and dominant form.
This time, Rowland is playing catch up and firmly in contention, and seemed to appear excited by the prospect of now being the one chasing the pack.
“The title’s on, but we’re the hunter, right? We’re not the hunted, which is quite a nice feeling,” he said, adding: “[It’s] Completely different. You’re just thinking, ‘don’t fuck it up’ last year.
“This year, you’re thinking, ‘come on, let’s have it!'”
Rowland will now be at the next three Formula 1 Grands Prix before returning to FE action in Sanya, occupying his additional role as advisor to Racing Bulls rookie Arvid Lindblad.
READ MORE – Oliver Rowland reignites Formula E title hopes with stunning Monaco victory
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