Two racing stories for the Venturi in New York

ROKiT Ventury Racing and lead driver Edoard Mortara lost their championship leads this weekend in New York after a difficult qualifying session hampered Sunday’s race.

But Saturday was a contrasting story. The team earned important points through Lucas di Grassi, an unconventional source of information. Swiss teammate Mortara is aiming for the title, but Di Grassi made a great drive to take second place. Mortara could only manage in 5th place after passing the qualifying in 9th place. Nonetheless, the points earned were enough for him and his team to maintain the lead in the championship.

The checkered flag for that race was brought out in an unusual situation. As the weather conditions on the Brooklyn circuit deteriorated, the car began to undergo aquaplaning. Venturi Nick Cassidy and Stoffel Vandoorne were involved in separate crashes on turn 6 and raised the red flag.

Damage to the barrier could not be repaired and the race was subsequently discontinued. The final ranking is based on the position of the previous week.

As the qualifying for the second race got worse, there was little chance of points. Mortara started in 21st place after the brake-by-wire problem, but Di Grassi’s two fastest laps were removed. So he started in 18th place.

Both drivers managed to get through the field and were at the top of their position to score points. However, Di Grassi contacted Jean-Eric Vergne on a dying rap, leading to the retirement of the Brazilian. His misfortune benefited his teammate Mortara. Mortara moved up to 10th place with his double retirement. The former championship leader also scored points on the fastest lap, further limiting damage from a very difficult weekend at Big Apple.

The championship lead may be lost, but he is just 11 points away from Vandorn. The Venturi also fell to second place. They are 10 points below the Mercedes-EQ in just four races remaining this season.

Team representative Jerome Dambrosio recalls his team’s difficult weekend in the United States and said: You need to learn from this weekend, move on to the next weekend, and optimize everything you can do in London. “

The Monaco team cannot afford to spend a weekend like this. They continue to hunt well, but further errors can turn out to be fatal to their chances. The paddock will head to England two weeks later and the Venturi hopes to regain the lead with two races over the weekend.

Photo courtesy of: ROKiT Venturi Racing