Maximilian Guenther stormed to a dominant victory in the official opening round of Formula E’s Race at Home Challenge on the digital streets of Hong Kong.
The BMW i Andretti Motorsport driver won the series’ test race last weekend and for the first race of the season, qualified in third place, with Mercedes EQ’s Stoffel Vandoorne taking pole position from Pascal Wehrlein.
Obtainining a poor getaway from the second row of the grid, Guenther fell to fourth in Turn 1, however, remained in-touch with second and third-placed runners Wehrlein and Nick Cassidy.
Diving up the inside of the pair in Turn 2, Guenther advanced to second and when Vandoorne crashed in Turn 3 on the third tour of the circuit, the German racer inherited the lead.
Remaining unchallenged, Guenther took a dominant victory over the rest of the field, with Cassidy taking second place as he continues to stand in for Envision Virgin Racing’s Sam Bird.
Dropping from second, Wehrlein completed the podium for Mahindra Racing while Robin Frijns was vaulted to seventh on the grid to fourth at the flag, securing a haul of 12 points.
As a result of his accident, Vandoorne completed the top five at the close of the race while a hotly contested battle for sixth place saw Nissan e.dams’ Oliver Rowland beat Oliver Turvey to the flag.
With the NIO 333 driver taking seventh, Felipe Massa secured eighth for ROKiT Venturi Racing, with Jerome d’Ambrosio and Alexander Sims completing the top 10.
In the series’ Challenge grid – reserved for sim racers, influencers and motorsport personalities – Joshua Rogers emerged as the victor, overtaking NIO’s Petar Brljak for victory on the final lap of the race while Kevin Siggy completed the podium.
Formula E’s Race at Home Challenge will continue next weekend on May 2 where the series’ official Season 6 grid will once again do battle on rFactor 2.
