Maximilian Gunther was left feeling “ecstatic” after claiming victory in the inaugural Tokyo E-Prix.
The German driver started the race in second place but lost out to Edoardo Mortara on the opening lap and dropped to third.
The Maserati driver showed his strong pace in Tokyo and clawed his way back past Mortara and was gifted the lead by Rowland when he lifted early to let him pass, as the Nissan driver was low on energy.
“An incredible weekend. I’m ecstatic,” stated Gunther. “We were in the top three in every session and almost got pole position, but securing the win feels so special – everybody did an amazing job. I felt great in the car, and we’ve taken some good steps as a team in the last few weeks.
“Since São Paulo, I think we’ve shown that we have really strong pace and today, we converted it into a win. There was a lot of energy management in the race, but we covered ourselves well, perfectly executed the strategy, and the moves, and did everything we had to do.
“It’s amazing to win Formula E’s first-ever race in Tokyo, and I’m proud. We need to enjoy this moment.”
Maserati chief engineer Cyril Blais was delighted at securing victory in Japan and was proud of the team’s aggressive nature during the race.
“Today’s race was incredible, said Blais. “The result is the realisation of months and months of hard work for us as a team.
“We executed a very well-planned strategy, and we decided to be aggressive – instead of settling for the podium, we chose to push for the win, and I’m very proud of Max and the team for doing such a good job.
“After five races on four very different tracks, we’ve shown great promise and potential so far this season. With our package, we know that we can be competitive almost every weekend, and that gives us all great motivation. I’m confident that we can achieve great things this year.”
