Jean-Eric Vergne takes his maiden win in Formula E as Lucas Di Grassi is crowned champion

Jean-Eric Vergne takes his maiden win in Formula E at the second Montreal ePrix as Lucas Di Grassi is crowned champion

Yesterday afternoon saw Jean-Eric Vergne claim his and Techeetah's maiden victory in the FIA Formula E Championship at the second Montreal ePrix and final race of the season ahead of Felix Rosenqvist and Jose Maria Lopez in a race that was challenging for the two title rivals of Lucas Di Grassi and Sebastien Buemi but one that saw Di Grassi become the third champion of the FIA Formula E Championship as Buemi endured a terrible race.

Buemi’s 13th-place start put him in the firing line at the start for the second time this weekend, and he picked up mild bodywork damage when the pack concertinaed at Turn 1 after Stephane Sarrazin spun following contact from Daniel Abt.

This meant that Buemi was flagged into the pits for repairs, and although the offending part fell off his Renault e.dams team still forced him to stop. Buemi had made up two places before doing so but the impromptu trip to the pitlane ruined his race and made a difficult task almost impossible.

Even though he brilliantly charged back up the order, Buemi finished a point-less eleventh place and his misfortune allowed di Grassi to coast to the end of the race. However Di Grassi was aggressive when required during the race after dropping to 10th at one stage. He then fought back to sixth and then handed that position to team-mate Daniel Abt on the final lap and clinched the crown at the third attempt in seventh place.

Buemi’s disqualification on Saturday, having risen to fourth place from twelfth place on the grid and a poor qualifying performance for the final race meant di Grassi turned a 10-point deficit coming to Montreal into a comfortable 24-point winning margin.

Di Grassi who finished third in the first season and second, behind Buemi, in 2015/16 was in tears on his in-lap, after snatching a title that seemed destined for Buemi until this final weekend.

But the swinging title fortunes detracted attention from Vergne’s first win in Formula E; a feat he has been waiting to achieve since claiming pole on his debut in round three of the inaugural campaign. In order for Vergne to achieve that first win, he had to catch and pass poleman Felix Rosenqvist in the second half of the race, after the Mahindra driver stopped a lap earlier than his pursuer to swap cars.

This gave Rosenqvist a five-second lead once Vergne stopped but also meant he had to go a lap longer in his second car, and Vergne gradually ate into the advantage. He took the lead with a relatively simple move and eased clear to score his and Techeetah’s first victory in Formula E at long last.

It wasn't all plain sailing for Rosenqvist as he briefly came under pressure from Jose Maria Lopez for second after the DS Virgin Racing driver charged from eleventh place on the grid. Lopez faded on the penultimate lap though, leaving Mahindra’s Rosenqvist to secure third place in the drivers’ championship in his rookie season which is a fantastic achievement.

But it was Jean-Eric Vergne who claimed victory at the second Montreal ePrix with a stunning drive at the front on the grid. Vergne finished ahead of Felix Rosenqvist in second place who was 0.896 seconds behind and ahead of in Jose Maria Lopez a surprising third place who was 4.468 seconds behind Vergne.

Sam Bird ended the ePrix in fourth place ahead of Nick Heidfeld in fifth place, Daniel Abt in sixth place, Lucas Di Grassi in seventh place, Stephane Sarrazin in eighth place, Jerome D'Ambrosio in ninth place and Tom Dillmann in tenth place.

Sebastien Buemi finished the race just out of the top ten in eleventh place ahead of Mitch Evans in twelfth place, Robin Frijns in thirteenth place, Adam Carroll in fourteenth place and Antonio Felix Da Costa in fifteenth place.

As we head into the latter stages of the grid, Nelson Piquet Jr ended the ePrix in sixteenth place ahead of Oliver Turvey in seventeeth place and Maro Engel in eighteenth place. Loic Duval and Nicolas Prost did not finish the ePrix.

Here's the classification of the 2017 Montreal ePrix R2 as follows:-

1.Jean-Eric Vergne, Techeetah, 37 laps
2.Felix Rosenqvist, Mahindra Racing, +0.896s
3.Jose Maria Lopez, DS Virgin Racing, +4.468s
4.Sam Bird, DS Virgin Racing, +7.114s
5.Nick Heidfeld, Mahindra Racing, +21.933s
6.Daniel Abt, ABT Shaeffler Audi Sport, +24.444s
7.Lucas di Grassi, Abt Schaeffler Audi Sport, +24.855s
8.Stephane Sarrazin, Techeetah, +26.038s
9.Jerome D'Ambrosio, Faraday Future Dragon Racing, +28.282s
10.Tom Dillmann, Venturi, +19.320s
11.Sebastien Buemi, Renault e.Dams, +35.170s
12.Mitch Evans, Jaguar Racing, +36.548s
13.Robin Frijns, Andretti, +36.826s
14.Adam Carroll, Jaguar Racing, +36.972s
15.Antonio Felix Da Costa, Andretti, +39.720s
16.Nelson Piquet Jr, NEXTEV NIO, +46.751s
17.Oliver Turvey, NEXTEV NIO, +49.116s
18.Maro Engel, Venturi, +1.33.530s
19.Loic Duval, Faraday Future Dragon Racing, Not Classified
20.Nicolas Prost, Renault e.Dams, Not Classified

Lucas Di Grassi wins the 2016/2017 Formula E Drivers Championship with 181 points ahead of Sebastien Buemi in second with 157 points, Felix Rosenqvist in third with 127 points, Sam Bird in fourth with 122 points, Jean-Eric Vergne in fifth with 117 points, Nicolas Prost in sixth with 93 points, Nick Heidfeld in seventh with 88 points, Daniel Abt in eighth with 67 points, Jose Maria Lopez is ninth with 65 points, Stephane Sarrazin is in tenth with 36 points , Nelson Piquet Jr is eleventh with 33 points, Oliver Turvey is in twelfth place with 26 points, Robin Frijns is thirteenth with 24 points, Mitch Evans is fourteenth with 22 points, Loic Duval is fifteenth with 20 points, Pierre Gasly is sixteenth with 18 points, Maro Engel is seventeenth with 16 points, Jerome D'Ambrosio is eighteenth with 13 points, Tom Dillmann is nineteenth with 12 points, Antonio Felix Da Costa is twentieth with 10 points, Esteban Gutierrez is twenty first with 5 points, Adam Carroll is twenty-second with 5 points and Alex Lynn is twenty-third with 3 points.

Renault e.dams wins the 2016/2017 Formula E Constructors Championship with 268 points, Abt Schaffler Audi Sport are second with 248 points, Mahindra Racing are third with 215 points, DS Virgin Racing are fourth with 190 points, Techeetah are fifth with 156 points, NEXTEV NIO are sixth with 59 points, Andretti are seventh with 34 points, Faraday Future Dragon Racing are eighth with 33 points, Venturi are ninth with 30 points and Jaguar Racing are tenth with 27 points.

Driving for Pleasure thanks everyone for their support while covering the 2016/2017 FIA Formula E Championship. We cannot wait to be covering the series again next season and keep your eyes peeled for our coverage of the latest news on the series on the off-season break.

Sarah Jones- @jonesy_laaa