Twenty-two drivers from eleven race teams will arrive in the Red Hook neighbourhood of Brooklyn, New York, on July 16/17, as the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship gears up for its fifth anniversary of hosting the all-electric motorsport on the streets of Queens in the Empire State.
A double-header weekend will provide race fans of New York with a plethora of entertainment as well as the opportunity for Mercedes-EQ to defend their Season 7 Driver & Team titles against the likes of Tag Heuer Porsche, DS Techeetah and Jaguar TCS.
The current 2022 E-Prix standings are tight as Jean-Eric Vergne racing for DS Techeetah, Mitch Evans for the Jaguar TCS Racing team, and Edoardo Mortara under the Rokit Venturi Racing banner could each steal the first-place positioning from Stoffel Vandoorne with a top-two or top-three finish.
Join us as we preview the drivers & teams who’re most likely to cross the chequered flag and disrupt the current standings.
Mitch Evans & Sam Bird (Jaguar TCS Racing Team)
After collecting 58 points from the previous four rounds of events, Mitch Evans has catapulted himself into the running for this year’s driver championship as he’s now third in the standings and a mere thirteen points shy of the top spot.
New York locals who were granted the legality of placing legal online sports wagers at the beginning of 2022 should pay close attention to the betting odds that sportsbook will place on Evans. The 28-year-old from Auckland, New Zealand, has been ruthless behind the wheel in recent months, and his previous success on the Brooklyn Circuit shouldn’t go unnoticed.
Before the pandemic closure and postponement of the NY E-Prix, Evans finished second place on this same circuit in 2019. With the combination of New York sportsbook promo codes and a wager on the Kiwi driver, bettors could find a surprising set of odds that hold significant betting value.
On the flipside of Jaguar TCS Racing is the teammate of Evans, Sam Bird. The British driver hasn’t presented the most desirable 2022 season; however, his history in Brooklyn has delivered 3 first-place finishes since the circuit’s introduction in 2017.
Bird won the first two races in 2017, emulating this success last year in the second double-header race. Nobody has won more races in Brooklyn, and if he isn’t a successor on the day, I wouldn’t be shocked if he’d shared notes and secret to success with his Jaguar partner Evans.
Jean-Eric Vergne (DS Techeetah)
Sitting five points behind Stoffel Vandoorne in the standings is Jean-Eric Vergne.
Vergne, who is racing under the DS Techeetah banner, recently finished in second place in Berlin and third place in Jakarta behind Evans during the Round 8 & 9 Formula-E events.
Not only is the Frenchman sneaking up on the top position of the standings, but he also boasts the second-best record in Brooklyn – behind Sam Bird – after finishing in second place in 2017 and 2021 and also winning the race in 2018.
The 2022 DS Techeetah should fare well on this course, as the teammate of Vergne, Antonio Felix da Costa, claimed a third-place finish in his debut appearance for DS last year and a third-place finish under the BMW banner in 2019.
Edoardo Mortara (Rokit Venturi Racing)
With first-place finishes in Diriyah and Berlin this season, Switzerland’s Edoardo Mortara shouldn’t be doubted as we head into the Brooklyn race. Currently, he’s the most in-form driver, with 65 points collected from the previous three rounds.
During the Round 9 race in Jakarta, he took third place in the Round 7 race in Berlin; he took first place before returning to the Berlin circuit in Round 8 to claim second.
In his hunt for the coveted first place position, he’s just seven points behind Vandoorne. The former three-time Formula 3 champion owns the experience and veteran-like ability to steal a top-3 placement in the Big Apple.
Stoffel Vandoorne (Mercedes EQ)
Through 9 Rounds of Formula-E racing this term, Germany’s Stoffel Vandoorne has failed to collect points on just one occasion. Vandoorne sits at the top of the leader board but mustn’t take his foot off the pedal with such a short gap between first and fourth. For this reason, don’t be surprised if the German gives an all-out performance in Brooklyn in an attempt to separate himself from the pack and secure this year’s championship title.
