BERLIN, Germany – Jean-Eric Vergne felt content with fifth place in the Berlin ePrix despite starting the race from pole position, deeming that victory was out of reach for DS Virgin Racing on Saturday.
Vergne stormed to his first Formula E pole position in almost a year in qualifying, but lost out to eventual winner Sebastien Buemi in the early stages of the race.
Despite losing the majority of his front wing towards the end of the first stint, Vergne managed to battle his way to fifth place at the flag.
Vergne said that he was pleased with his result given the pace of the Renault e.dams and ABT cars as the title-fighting teams locked out the top four positions in Berlin.
“No it was not a missed opportunity. I think it was a great day,” Vergne told NBC Sports after the race.
“Obviously you start from pole, you want to be winning the race. But Paris to here, the track was more or less the same length, but you had four more laps. With our car, race energy was way too difficult.
“I tried to attack as much as I could today. I was extremely aggressive, even sometimes a bit too much. The two DAMS and the two ABTs were way too quick today.
“There was nothing I could have done to stop them. I tried as much as I could, but I couldn’t do any more. The pace was simply not there compared to those guys today. Maybe if there had been less laps it would have been a different story like in qualifying.”
Vergne said that the whole DS Virgin Racing team was happy with the weekend despite going from first and fourth on the grid to only bring home 10 points after an unplanned pit stop resigned Sam Bird to an 11th-place finish.
“The whole team was really happy with the weekend, especially qualifying,” Vergne said.
“I think we outperformed, so that was amazing, amazing feeling, really nice. P5 is the best we could have done.
“Considering the two teams ahead have two good drivers, I think today in the race they clearly had a better day. I did the job. I tried my max to block them. I was really aggressive in trying to do so.
“Therefore I’m really happy with fifth position. If we had the car to win and we don’t win, clearly we’re going to be disappointed, but today there is no reason to be disappointed.”
Golden did more to break the glass ceiling in SuperMotocross than she ever thought possible. She knows this because riders have never felt the need to explain any of her accomplishments with the disclaimer, “for a girl”.
At this point in Golden’s career, she’s been the first woman to finish top 10 in AMA Arenacross Lites, the first woman to qualify in the Fast 40 in Monster Energy AMA Supercross and the first woman to compete in freestyle Moto X competition, earning a bronze medal by doing so.
Her love for moto came from childhood while she watched her dad and brother ride. By seven she was on her bike and making waves throughout Southern California.
Golden, 30, is still madly in love with the sport and has no plans on moving away but her career is already one to talk about. 805 Beer’s film series wanted to do exactly that.
“I’m taken aback by it all,” Golden told NBC Sports about the documentary. “It’s just crazy to see your story, it’s one thing to live your life and battle everything that comes about but it’s another to just sit there and talk about it.”
805 approached Golden about the feature by asking, “Do you even realize that what you do, and your story is special?”
Golden took the question as a blank canvas to map out the highs and lows of her career and life.
The title “Inverted Perspective” came from a brainstorming session with Dominick Russo and it highlights Golden’s outlook on the sport of SuperMotocross and her life in general.
“My whole life, my whole career was thinking differently and looking at things that shouldn’t be done and aren’t there, while being able to make a place for myself, where no one thought there should be a place,” Golden said. “It’s inspiring someone to think in different ways. It sums up my life.”
Vicki Golden is not “fast for a girl”; she’s just fast. – 805 Beer
While Golden is no stranger to the spotlight, this was the first time she’s been fully involved with the storytelling and creation of a feature about herself.
“It’s not like a full new experience,” Golden said. “Obviously, you get your standard questions about your upbringing and accomplishments, but I’ve never really put into perspective things that happened in my past with my dad and putting that to light. Also, certain other things that maybe got overlooked in previous interviews or films. I wanted to touch on these and Dom wanted to create a story. It’s just cool to see it come to light, it’s a nearly impossible thing to tell somebody’s life story in 40 minutes.”
Golden’s father was left paralyzed after an ATV accident, robbing him the opportunity to ride again. This happened a few months before the father-daughter duo was set to compete in the Loretta Lynn’s Amateur Nationals when Vicki was 12. While she might have been unable to grasp the severity at the time, it’s something she carries with her. Golden continues to ride in his honor.
Years later, an accident in 2018 nearly sidelined the then 25-year-old Vicki when a freestyle accident almost resulted in the amputation of her lower leg.
Vicki Golden has ridden a variety of disciplines in SuperMotocross, which gives her a unique perspective. – 805 Beer
“Inverted Perspective” highlights her father’s diligence in helping Vicki continue with her career and the kindness and strength he carried while fighting his own battle.
“My dad was the entire reason that I started riding in the first place,” Golden said. “So, to honor his memory and to honor what we went through and how hard he pushed to keep our dream alive and keep everything going – in that sense then, it was really special to be able to honor him and talk about him.”
The 40-minute feature was filmed entirely in black and white, a stark contrast from the oversaturated world of motocross where the brighter the suit the easier it is for fans to find their rider and follow him in the race. By filming in monochrome Russo and Golden had the chance to focus on the race and track from a different perspective.
“It was cool to be able to film it differently,” Golden said. “It created a challenge in the sense of what was going to be more visually impactful for the film.
“I couldn’t be here without the companies that back me but at the same time, it’s not like the logos or colors disappeared, it’s just different lights shed on different spots. It’s just a cool way to do it and to take color away and still be impactful. When you think of black and white, you think of old school, the OG way of doing things.”
