Posted on 23rd April 2016
This evening, Abt Audi Sport driver and championship leader Lucas di Grassi made it back-to-back Formula E victories with a dominant performance in the inaugural Paris ePrix ahead of Jean-Eric Vergne and Sebastien Buemi.
Di Grassi had a great start into Turn 1 and was able to pass Paris ePrix Pole Sitter Sam Bird and wasn't really challenged from the start. But throughout the race, Bird had run third up until that point after also losing out to his team-mate Vergne at the start.
The two drivers touched wheels at Turn 2 and came to blows again before the car swaps; with Vergne hanging on each time. But the delays allowed Buemi and the other Renault e.dams car of Nico Prost to make it a four-car fight for second.
They held position through the pitstops, after which Vergne and Bird pulled away from Buemi while the Swiss driver struggled to get his tyres up to temperature, a problem that had caused him to qualify down in seventh place.
But Buemi soon had enough heat in his tyres to reel the DSV-01s back in, setting a couple of new fastest laps to draw onto the tail of Bird’s car. A couple of half-hearted looks were rebuffed and Bird appeared to have his rival covered, but he locked up defending into Turn 1 on Lap 40 and went straight on.
Bird did performed a swift U-turn down the escape road, but tumbled to sixth behind SebastienBuemi, Nico Prost and Stephane Sarrazin.
But it did look as though di Grassi might have to survive a grandstand finish when Formula E debutant Ma Qing Hua crashed heavily five laps from the end of the race and brought out the safety car. But the recovery of the stricken Team Aguri entry was too protracted for racing to resume, meaning that di Grassi scored his third win of the season.
Despite the end to the Paris ePrix, Di Grassi has now extended his championship lead to eleventh points and looks to really have momentum behind him now. He finished ahead of Jean Eric Vergne in second place with his rival Sebastien Buemi inheriting the final podium position after a mistake from Bird, shortly before Ma crashed and sent Bird down the escape road at Turn 1.
Nico Prost finished the race in fourth place ahead of Stephane Sarrazin in fifth place and Sam Bird in sixth place. Behind Bird, Robin Frijns and Antonio Felix da Costa scored points again in season-one machinery with seventh and eighth places for Andretti Autosport and Team Aguri teams. Bruno Senna and Daniel Abt completed the points finishers, though both will feel aggrieved at the safety-car finish that robbed them of a late charge after they had saved considerably more energy than their rivals to attack in the closing laps.
Jerome D'Ambrosio ended the race in eleventh place ahead of Nick Heidfeld in twelfth place, Oliver Turvey in thirteenth place, Mike Conway in fourteenth place and Simona de Silvestro in fifteenth place. Nelson Piquet Jr, Ma Qing Hua and Loic Duval did not finish the ePrix.
Here is the classification of the 2016 Paris ePrix as follows:-
1.Lucas di Grassi, Abt Schaeffler Audi Sport, 52.40.324
2.Jean-Eric Vergne, DS Virgin Racing, +0.853s
3.Sebastien Buemi, Renault e.Dams, +1.616s
4.Nicolas Prost, Renault e.Dams, +2.142s
5.Stephane Sarrazin, Venturi, +3.044s
6.Sam Bird, DS Virgin Racing, +3.856s
7.Robin Frijns, Andretti, +5.141s
8.Antonio Felix Da Costa, Team Aguri, +7.000s
9.Bruno Senna, Mahindra Racing, +8.433s
10.Daniel Abt, ABT Shaeffler Audi Sport, +9.949s
11.Jerome D'Ambrosio, Dragon Racing, +10.738s
12.Nick Heidfeld, Mahindra Racing, +12.453s
13.Oliver Turvey, NEXTEV TCR, +13.721s
14.Mike Conway, Venturi, +14.833s
15.Simona de Silvestro, Andretti, +16.049s
16.Nelson Piquet Jr, NEXTEV TCR, Not Classified
17.Ma Qing Hua, Team Aguri, Not Classified
18.Loic Duval, Dragon Racing, Not Classified
Lucas di Grassi still leads the Formula E Drivers Championship with 126 points ahead of Sebastien Buemi in second with 115 points, Sam Bird in third with 82 points, Jerome D'Ambrosio in fourth with 64 points, Stephane Sarrazin in fifth with 58 points, Nicolas Prost in sixth with 50 points, Nick Heidfeld in seventh with 41 points, Nick Heidfeld in eighth with 37 points, Robert Frijns in ninth with 37 points and Daniel Abt in tenth with 32 points.
Sarah Jones- @jonesy_laaa
