Mahindra gambled on a drying track in Japan, and the Formula E championship now heads to London with five points covering the top three.

Nyck de Vries has won the 2026 TDK Tokyo E-Prix, hauling his Mahindra Racing car from fifth on the grid to the top step in conditions that changed by the lap. Citroën Racing’s Nick Cassidy carved through from 13th to take second, while Andretti Formula E’s Jake Dennis produced the drive of the day to finish third from 18th.

That result reshapes the ABB FIA Formula E Drivers’ World Championship. Dennis now leads it with two races to go, after title rivals Pascal Wehrlein (Porsche Formula E) and Mitch Evans (Jaguar TCS Racing) both left Tokyo empty handed. Just five points now separate the top three ahead of the Excel London finale on 15 and 16 August.

Mahindra’s win came down to a call made long before the lights went out. With a deluge earlier in the afternoon, the team set the car up for a drying surface and gambled that the rain would stay away. It did.

De Vries kept his powder dry in the opening stint, banking energy while others burned theirs, then made his move for ATTACK MODE on Lap 28. From there he picked off the cars ahead and took reigning World Champion Oliver Rowland for the lead, before a late Red Flag closed the door on any comeback.

It is his second win of 2025/26 and Mahindra’s second of the season, a double the team has not managed since 2017/18. The Dutchman also won in Monaco earlier this year.

Cassidy and Citroën made exactly the same bet, and were rewarded with a second visit to the rostrum in as many days after his emotional P3 on Saturday.

London decider looms

Dennis, meanwhile, was 35 seconds off the lead at one point and still climbed 15 places, helped past Rowland by the Nissan driver’s late ATTACK MODE call and thin energy margin. He heads to the scene of his first title triumph as the man to beat.

Wehrlein’s second blank in as many rounds drops him to third, while Evans, who had provisionally led the race earlier on, retired and sits second, two points behind Dennis.

There was consolation for Stuttgart: Porsche is confirmed as 2025/26 ABB FIA Formula E Manufacturers’ World Champion. Jaguar still heads Porsche in the Teams’ standings, another fight that will run to the flag in London.

“I do want to thank the gods because I think we were a little bit lucky today,” said de Vries. “Obviously, we had a poor start, I think we opted for a drying track and, in hindsight, that obviously worked out in our favour. I think it was very important to save energy at the beginning of the race because once the track dried, you needed the energy.

“I think we were a little bit lucky with the Red Flag at the end because Jake [Dennis] was coming on strong in ATTACK MODE, but I am very, very happy and proud of my team who executed a great race and scored our second win of the season.”

Dennis was similarly buoyant. “Championship leader sounds incredible! I had this pressure back in Season 9, so I’m used to it. There’s no difference there. Obviously, the gap is much closer, but you know, I’m just fully motivated, focused to get the job done, and it’s going to be an incredible fight with the five of us who can probably go for it.”

Cassidy paid tribute to his new employer after a bruising few months. “They put a lot of faith in me to bring me to this programme and they have been saying all year that they’ve got big plans and we’re excited for the future,” he said.

Rounds 16 and 17, the 2026 Hankook London E-Prix, take place on 15 and 16 August and bring the curtain down on the GEN3 era. Tokyo has form for weather chaos, as Stoffel Vandoorne’s rain-hit win at Round 8 proved, and London now inherits the drama. Full race detail is available via the FIA’s official report.