"One of the few Formula E races that was fun" - Ticktum celebrates 5th place, Sette Camara penalised after the race

For a moment, it almost seemed too good to be true from an ERT perspective: Dan Ticktum and Sergio Sette Camara finished Saturday's Formula E race in Misano in 5th and 7th place! A few minutes after the end of the race, the disillusionment set in: Sette Camara received a retrospective penalty and was only classified 16th. Nevertheless, the bottom line was a strong race for both riders and numerous points, which catapulted ERT into ninth place in the world championship.

Out of nowhere, Ticktum and Sette Camara suddenly found themselves in the top 10 in the final third of the race, battling for points with rivals such as Mitch Evans and Stoffel Vandoorne, who would have been significantly faster under normal circumstances but had done a lot of "leadership work" at the start of the race.

This is exactly what ERT did differently, as the underdog had chosen a very defensive strategy for the first few laps: "We allowed ourselves to be overtaken at the start because we wanted to use very little energy per lap," explained Ticktum shortly after the race on TV World Signal. "We took our foot off the pedal so much earlier on the straights, but were able to catch up again at every corner thanks to the accordion effect."

"Was afraid that some groups would pull away earlier"

This gave him an energy advantage of just under three per cent over his rivals at around two thirds of the race distance, the Briton explains. There was only one variable in the match plan: "I was a bit afraid that some groups would break away earlier." Because then he might not have been able to close the gap and make up fewer places at the front. "But that didn't happen - that's why it was really fun from then on," continued Ticktum.

From the midfield, he was able to overtake the other cars with more energy as he passed them. Towards the end, he battled with Evans for sixth place and even managed to overtake the New Zealander on the final lap. As a result, Ticktum crossed the finish line in sixth place, but was classified as fifth after Vergne was penalised. Saturday's race is therefore by far the best race of his season so far: "That was one of the few Formula E races that was actually fun," he laughs after the race.

Sette Camara penalised retrospectively

The team had also planned the same strategy for Sergio Sette Camara - and it worked brilliantly for the Brazilian. He made up 14 places over the course of the race and finished in 7th place: "The team predicted the race so well," he praised. "It feels strange to say it, but I even had energy left at the end. And that on a track that is not good for our drive. But these peloton style races make unusual results possible."

Just a few minutes after the end of the race and after the two ERT drivers had shown themselves laughing and relaxed in front of the TV cameras, Sette Camara was disillusioned: he had used too much energy on the last lap and was subsequently given a drive-through penalty, which was converted into a time penalty. It dropped him back to 16th place, which also meant he lost the six points for the overall standings.

Although the result was relativised somewhat, ERT can be satisfied. The ten points for Ticktum lifted the team to 9th place in the team standings - ahead of ABT Cupra! ERT can start the second Misano race on Sunday with a tailwind. The race starts again at 3 pm (CEST).