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Mitch Evans believes his pole position and victory in the first round of the Rome ePrix weekend was much needed. The New Zealander is now third in the championship and has a realistic shot at the title.
Speaking exclusively to Sportskeeda after the race, the Jaguar TCS racing driver said:
“It should have been this result in Hyderabad, but yeah. Overall, we are really very happy. Obviously, at this point of the championship, it is critical to get a result like this and my fourth win here, third in a row, so pretty special as well. Challenging race, very hard to manage, got it done. So now, we reset and try and repeat it tomorrow, but I think it is going to be challenging.”
On outsmarting championship leader Jake Dennis in the race, Mitch Evans said:
“Yeah, I mean obviously there were two races in one after the red flag. That gave him a slight disadvantage and I wanted to recover that, which I did. But then I think they had the wrong strategy in the car, he was out on the front lap, he was going to lap less, so he was using more energy than he should have.
"So once I found that out, I was getting to match. Up until that point, it was looking like a good fight. I think I still had the advantage but it was going to be tricky. So yeah, we made no errors today, which was very important. I am super proud of every one. And hopefully we can back it up tomorrow.”
Ruing his result at the Hyderabad ePrix when he last spoke to Sportskeeda, Mitch Evans felt this is the kind of result he was expecting in India. Confident after his victory at the first race in Rome, the Jaguar TCS Racing driver was proud of his team and glad the efforts had paid off.
With a red flag after his teammate Sam Bird’s multiple-car tangle, the New Zealander had no choice but to re-strategize his race. As race leader and former championship leader Jake Dennis got caught out in the race with bad strategy, Mitch Evans was able to capitalize. He snatched the victory during the penultimate laps of the race.
Mitch Evans looks forward to becoming the ace title protagonist by the London ePrix
Elated with his win and solid result, Mitch Evans is now 20 points behind Nick Cassidy in the championship after the first round of the Rome ePrix. The Jaguar TCS Racing driver is keen on continuing the same momentum into the second round at the street circuit in Rome.
This will allow him to be able to have a better shot at the title in the final two rounds in London. Hoping to be able to replicate the same result in the second race in Rome, he feels it will be another challenging day in the scorching heat in Italy.
Asked by Sportskeeda about his optimism to clinch the title, Mitch Evans said:
“I mean, look, I've just got to keep doing what I am doing. If I can bridge the gap tomorrow, that’s good enough for me. How much, who knows? I still need to get a good result tomorrow to take this to London and hopefully in a healthy position.
"It’s been a good day we’ve done what we’ve needed to do. But we need to just back it up tomorrow, take this to London and have a good crack at it.”
Explaining the challenges of racing in extremely hot weather in Rome, he said:
“Extremely. Normally, we come in April, so it’s a little bit of rain. Got jackets and it's not that hot but here, it's ridiculous. It’s how hot it is. Not easy for man, machine, tyres, everyone involved, so yeah, it’s definitely been a fact we’ve had to consider.
"Even now, trying to recover for tomorrow. Get an ice bath. Try and get some good sleep with good food. It all adds up to the end. So it’s going to be another scorcher tomorrow. So I need to try and get some rest.”
Far from the demotivated version of himself in Hyderabad, Mitch Evans has had a turnaround in the season. The current victory in Rome is his fourth at the venue and the third one in a row in his Formula E career.
After a disappointing title campaign in season 8 where he missed out by a narrow margin, the former GP3 champion is set to take a second shot at the Formula E title.
