Reigning Formula E world champion Oliver Rowland is "ready to fight" to defend his crown, with the battle heating up following his first win of the season in Monaco.
The Briton stormed to victory in the most recent round of the season at the Circuit de Monaco, elevating himself to second in the championship. It has been an unusual campaign for Rowland, who has either finished on the podium or outside the points.
From the 10 completed rounds, he already boasts one victory and five further podiums, while finishing outside the points in the other four races.
Securing his first win of the season was an important achievement, given that his previous victory came in Tokyo in May last year.
"Yeah, it's been a long time since I won, so I'm just happy to get that off my back," Rowland told RacingNews365. "Still, there's 20% of me that is wondering why I'm not fast enough over one lap, but yeah, we managed to get the job done."
Rowland is not alone in having one-lap pace woes in the title fight, as championship leader Mitch Evans has also struggled to deliver in qualifying.
With the exception of the two rounds in Shanghai, qualifying is set to hold significant importance at all the remaining venues. After 10 rounds in 2025, Rowland had already won three races, compared to only one this time around.
That has not overly concerned him, though, as his killer consistency has largely remained. Nevertheless, he knows Nissan needs to unlock more.
"I wasn't so worried about not winning, as long as I'm scoring points and I'm on the podium and I'm there or thereabouts," added Rowland. "That's important. But I think, obviously, it gives the whole team confidence and motivation.
"But really, if we want to fight, we have to improve a little bit over one lap and just have a bit more pace."
Rowland embracing the hunt
It is a very different campaign from Rowland's incredible title success last season, given that he had practically wrapped up the championship with half the season remaining.
He finds himself 19 points adrift of Mitch Evans in the standings and 62 points shy of where he was after 10 rounds last year, but the competition in Formula E is fiercer and closer than ever before.
Having such a huge lead on his way to becoming world champion did affect the 33-year-old, who is relishing the prospect this time around of doing the chasing and being the hunter — a feeling he is enjoying.
Asked if the win makes him think more about his title defence, Rowland replied: "Of course. I mean, I'm there, which is important, but I'm hanging in there, you know. I don't feel like I'm in control like I was last year.
"So it's a little bit of a different mentality. I don't feel like it's ours to lose; it's kind of ours to chase and win. So it's quite a nice feeling.
"Last year was horrible for the last seven races, but this year I feel like I'm ready to fight for it."
Originally published by RacingNews365 —
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