Five things to look forward to in Misano

It’s the first time the all-electric World Championship has found itself at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli, and there are lots of big storylines as we preview Rounds 6 and 7 of Season 10. 

Five different winners from five different teams in five races

We’re only five rounds into this new season of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, and we’ve already had five fresh faces stand on the top step of the podium. Last time out in Tokyo, Maserati MSG Racing’s Maximilian Guenther made it five from five as he was crowned winner in the Japanese capital. 

Before that was NEOM McLaren’s Sam Bird in São Paulo, then Jaguar TCS Racing's Nick Cassidy took his turn in Diriyah with Andretti’s Jake Dennis winning the race prior. Current championship leader, TAG Heuer Porsche's Pascal Wehrlein, was also victorious at the first race of the season in Mexico City. 

All of these five first-placed figures have been from different teams, with four out of five victories being from different powertrain suppliers too. The best bit is this could only be the beginning, with a huge percentage of the grid in with a shot of becoming the next possible winner, with the levels of competition never being higher. 

Another new circuit challenge

As mentioned, this is the first time Formula E has been to Misano. The circuit is normally associated with MotoGP and WorldSBK, being a frequent addition on their respective calendars, and has been home to endurance and sportscar racing, Ferrari Challenge, DTM, FIA Formula 3 and Formula 4 over the years. 

GET TO KNOW: What does the Misano Formula E circuit look like?

For Formula E, the circuit will run to 3.381km with 14 turns and clockwise, infield at Turns 1, 2, 3 and 4 before returning to the GP layout down towards what will be Turn 5 and the Turn 7 hairpin. A high-speed straight follows into a sharp left-right at Turns 8 and 9 before another fast sprint around the complex at the back of the circuit before hooking back through Turn 14 onto the home straight.

It's a rapid, flowing track with plenty of overtaking opportunities and room for manoeuvres. Lots of our grid have raced here before, including names like Edoardo Mortara, Jehan Daruvala and Nico Mueller to name a few!

Our Rookie Free Practice session returns 

On Friday 12 April, all teams will give some promising fresh talent a chance to get behind the wheels of the GEN3 cars in an official season test. The ‘Free Practice 0’ will last 30 minutes from 14:30 local time and will be held on the Friday before the double-header race weekend gets underway. 

Teams can field someone who's sampled Formula E machinery before but they must not be drivers included on the Season 10 Entry List and they must not have competed in a Formula E race before in their career. The idea is to give the best young talent a pathway to race at the very top of the motorsport ladder with a taste of Formula E and the opportunity to impress prospective teams in the world's leading electric race series!

The choices the teams have put forward to Formula E and the FIA will be revealed in the lead up to Misano, with ABT CUPRA already signalling that Tim Tramnitz will once again be in the car after his outing last season and Envision Racing welcoming Jack Aitken back. Meanwhile, Porsche have announced a trio of drivers set to get behind the wheel this season for the German outfit in the Berlin Rookie Test and FP0 in Misano.

Rowland’s on a roll

Nissan’s Oliver Rowland currently sits third in the Drivers’ World Championship, thanks to his impressive run of three consecutive podiums. The Yorkshireman managed a third place in Diriyah, another third in São Paulo and just missed out on the win in Tokyo last time out. As well as his silverware haul, Rowland has also picked up two Julius Baer Pole Positions and is looking mighty strong and comfortable back with his Nissan team. 

Having led most of the Japanese round of the calendar, an important first home race for the team, he wasn’t able to make it stick and settled for second after an impressive performance from Guenther and Maserati. 

However, with his consistency early on in the championship, and Nissan proving they can win as a powertrain supplier when NEOM McLaren’s Sam Bird was victorious in Brazil, could we see Rowland get his second-ever Formula E win in Misano? It’s certainly possible and would definitely cement himself as a championship favourite, as we rapidly approach the mid-way point of the season in Monaco later this month. 

Jaguar TCS Racing looking to bounce back 

There was no shortage of celebrations and reminiscing in Tokyo, as Jaguar TCS Racing celebrated their 100th E-Prix in Formula E. Having joined in Season 3, Mitch Evans and the team went all out to commemorate the special occasion. Unfortunately for the team, they had their worst-scoring weekend so far this season. 

FEATURE: Which drivers have completed 100 races in Formula E? 

Evans became just the sixth driver to pass the 100 race milestone last weekend, but was forced to settle for 15th at the chequered flag in his first non-points scoring result of the season. The Kiwi made a mistake during the race, but managed to avoid any damage that would force him to retire. 

For new signing Cassidy, he was able to pick up four points as he finished the Tokyo E-Prix in eighth. Having been disqualified in qualifying and starting 19th, the six-time race winner was able to salvage four championship points.

"I don't feel like we're super efficient right now - we've got to improve,” Cassidy suggested after Tokyo. That's going to be key [in Misano].

"[Nissan and Porsche] have made huge jumps and I think they're stronger than us right now, so we've got to improve. I'm not sure we can do that before Misano but we'll do our best."