The race weekend saw two different race winners amongst plenty of talking points, none more so than for Goodmayes-based driver Alex Lynn.
Lynn’s weekend started off strong when he fought his way into the super pole shootout. His pace was imminent, with his fastest lap in super pole giving him a starting position of fifth for the first race.
The Mahindra Racing driver got off to a promising start as he contested with Sam Bird for sixth place.
Come lap 16 though, his race was about to unravel.
Bird attempted to dive up the inside of the Goodmayes-based driver as the pair went into turn one, but the gap closed as Lynn tried to defend his sixth place from the Jaguar driver, causing both to collide.
Bird tagged the rear left wheel of Lynn, causing him to spin backwards into the barrier. The Jaguar driver couldn’t steer out of the collision in time as the two cars met on the nose. Lynn was forced to retire immediately due to broken front suspension.
Bird also retired due to the damage sustained in the incident.
The race was eventually won by Nyck De Vries, converting pole position to race win. It was the Dutchman’s first win since he joined Formula E in 2019.
The Mercedes driver was followed home by Edoardo Mortara, with Mitch Evans taking the final podium spot in third. Lynn’s Mahindra Racing teammate Alexander Sims finished in seventh.
Bad Brake For Mercedes
Come Saturday, the Mahindra Racing outfit managed to get Lynn’s car sorted and ready for another day of action.
In the third and final free practice session of the weekend, Mortara was involved in a very frightening incident when his car failed to stop at high speed after a practice start. Due to an FIA investigation, all Mercedes powered cars were unable to take part in qualifying. This affected both the Mercedes-EQ team and Venturi as well.
The teams were eventually cleared to race after the FIA confirmed Mortara’s incident was due to a rear brake failsafe system failure and that it was likely to not happen again during the race.
From Bad To Worse
Lynn’s qualifying wasn’t as spectacular as the previous evenings. He qualified in ninth place but was relegated to 12th after gaining a three-place grid penalty due to his involvement in the crash between him and Bird the night before.
When the red lights went out, Lynn started to fall backwards down the grid and found himself in a lowly 20th. With less than a quarter of the race left, the safety car came out after an incident involving Evans and Lynn. The incident happened off screen and wasn’t shown to viewers at home on the television coverage.
However, CCTV footage was released later that evening that showed Lynn’s car going airborne after he clipped Evans rear wing. The local racer landed upside down and skidded some considerable distance before coming to a stop.
Once Evans saw what happened, he got out of his car and ran over to make sure his fellow competitor was ok.
With debris littering the track and just three minutes left, race control decided to declare the race there and then with Bird being the victor.
Lynn was transferred to a local hospital for additional checks but was cleared to leave early Sunday morning.
Speaking to Motorsport.com after the event, Evans said “It was not a nice moment. At one point I could see him (Lynn) above me. It was not nice. But the main thing is he’s all good.
“I saw him go into the wall and I jumped out to make sure he was OK. You never want to see that sort of stuff. He’s a friend as well. You don’t want to see people go through that.”
Mahindra Racing have also confirmed that Lynn will be ok to race when the Formula E circus heads to Italy for the Rome ePrix on the 10th April 2021.
