Oliver Rowland takes Formula E title with two races to spare
The Briton had needed to lead Pascal Wehrlein by 59 points after the second of two races in Berlin, the championship's penultimate weekend, and he did it by finishing fourth with his Porsche rival fading to 16th despite starting on pole.
"Daddy, you're the world champion," four-year-old daughter Harper told the 32-year-old Barnsley-born Yorkshireman over the radio as the team celebrated.
Rowland, who failed to score on Saturday and started eighth on Sunday after a five-place grid penalty, has 184 points with Wehrlein on 125.
"I was thinking before the race not to have too much damage going into (the final round in) London," he said.
"I can't believe it, I have no words. It's incredible. I was trying to play it safe but everybody was so aggressive, so at some point I was all in. Thankfully I stayed out of trouble."
The final two races are on July 26 and 27.
Sunday's race at Berlin's old Tempelhof airport was won by Jaguar's Nick Cassidy in a late surge, after starting 21st on the 22 car grid, to complete a weekend sweep after teammate Mitch Evans won on Saturday.
Andretti's Jake Dennis was second and Jean-Eric Vergne third for DS Penske with Evans fifth and McLaren's Taylor Barnard sixth.
Aston Martin F1 reserve Felipe Drugovich, making his Formula E debut at the weekend with Mahindra, scored his first points in seventh.
It was the first time a Japanese manufacturer had won the championship and Rowland stamped his name on it from the start with wins in Mexico, Jeddah, Monaco and Tokyo.
The team and manufacturers' championships are open to be won with Porsche leading Nissan in the two.
Only one driver, France's Jean-Eric Vergne (2017-18 and 2018-19), has managed to win two titles since the series started in 2014.
Rowland has said in the past that even a serial Formula One winner and champion such as Max Verstappen would struggle to dominate in the electric series, so closely-matched are the drivers and cars.
Liberty Global-owned Formula E expects its cumulative television audience to surpass 500-million by the end of the season and has set a target of being the world's second biggest motorsport series by 2030.
"To do that by fan base we have to topple MotoGP at just over 500-million fans," CEO Jeff Dodds told Reuters.
"That's the next target we look to. That may become more challenging as they (MotoGP) are under the Liberty Media wing and being looked after by Liberty Media (who also own F1), who may invest a chunk more than they have in the past.
"But that's our growth target. We're aiming to get by the same period to about 850-million cumulative TV audience. That's a pretty big jump."
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