Posted on 12th November 2016
Renault e.Dams driver and reigning Formula E champion Sebastien Buemi retained his championship start after winning the inaugural Marrakesh ePrix today ahead of Sam Bird and Formula E rookie Felix Rosenqvist in a race that saw controlled driving and strategy down the grid.
Shortly after qualifying for the Marrakesh ePrix, Sebastien Buemi was handed a five-place grid penalty for the race after his fire extinguisher was found to be underweight during qualifying.
Buemi qualified second in Marrakesh on Saturday behind Mahindra driver Felix Rosenqvist. However, Buemi will now drop to seventh on the grid after the scrutineers found the fire extinguisher in his car to be underweight, breaching the FIA technical regulations by dipping below the required weight of 3.25kg.
At the start of the ePrix, Rosenqvist and Bird got off to really good starts as Nelson Piquet Jr locks up going into the first corner. Further down the grid on the opening lap, there is contact involving the two Andretti drivers of Antonio Felix Da Costa and Robert Frijns and also Loic Duval.
In the opening few laps of the race, Rosenqvist started to stretch out his lead over Bird to 2.5 seconds at one stage; even though he informed his team via the team radio that his dashboard was stuck into one mode and this could have hindered him during the race especially if he needed to monitor his fuel and energy levels.
Behind the top three, there was a bit of a traffic jam as the Andretti car of Frijns caused a bit of traffic jam for drivers such as Lucas Di Grassi. A battle between Nick Heidfeld and Maro Engel had our attentions in the early stages of the race as the latter span coming out of Turn 7 which saw Heidfeld, Jose Maria Lopez and Stephane Sarrazin passing him in quick succession.
In the first half of the ePrix, Sam Bird and Nelson Piquet Jr was battling each other for third place with Jean-Eric Vergne catching the Brazilian driver for fourth place as Heidfeld was making more ground by passing Frijns on the track. By Lap 8, Buemi had passed Daniel Abt at Turn 7.
Four laps later at Turn 8, Antonio Felix Da Costa passes Lucas Di Grassi for position on the track but then is forced to stop on the track and had to officially retire from the race.
Just over halfway into the second half of the ePrix, Rosenqvist after an impressive first stint in the lead stopped to switch cars while Buemi and Bird carried on with another lap of the Marrakesh circuit. Within a few corners, Buemi passes Bird with a good move into Turn 11 for track position.
After all the pitstops had been completed, Rosenqvist still lead the race ahead of Buemi and Bird. The next lap sees the stewards announce that Vergne is under investigation for speeding in the pitlane. Maro Engel within the next few laps officially retires from the race. Vergne's fate in the race was then confirmed by Lap 23 when he would have to drive through the pits as a result of speeding in the pitlane and rejoins behind Nico Prost in fifth place after serving his penalty on Lap 24.
Within the latter stages of the ePrix, Buemi was catching Rosenqvist at the front of the grid thanks to managing his energy more than the young Swedish rookie and also with the help of FanBoost as well. By Lap 27, Buemi made a great move onto the back straight and demotes Rosenqvist to second place as Bird is also gaining ground on the Swedish driver as well.
Four laps later sees Bird demoting Rosenqvist to third place as he struggles with the energy he has left to maintain his position despite a seven second gap to Prost in fourth place. On the final lap, Loic Duval stopped once again on the circuit after struggling with problems with his Faraday Future Dragon Racing car throughout the race while Mitch Evans going into Turn 7 locks up just after Nelson Piquet Jr does the same.
But it was Sebastien Buemi who won his second race of the FIA Formula E Championship season at the Marrakesh ePrix despite a five place grid penalty ahead of Sam Bird in second place who was 2.457 seconds behind him. Bird finished ahead of Felix Rosenqvist in an impressive third place who was 7.195 seconds behind Buemi.
Nicolas Prost finished in fourth place ahead of Lucas Di Grassi in fifth place, Daniel Abt in sixth place, Oliver Turvey in a brilliant seventh place, Jean-Eric Vergne in a solid eighth place despite a drive through penalty, Nick Heidfield in ninth place and Jose Maria Lopez who rounded off the top ten finishers of the race and scored his first point of the season and also of his Formula E career.
Robert Frijns finished just outside the top ten in eleventh place ahead of Stephane Sarrazin in twelfth place, Jerome D'Ambrosio in thirteenth place and Adam Carroll in fourteenth place and Ma Qing Hua in fifteenth place.
As we head into the latter stages of the grid, Nelson Piquet Jr finished the race in sixteenth place ahead of Mitch Evans in seventeenth place and Loic Duval in eighteenth place. Maro Engel and Antonio Felix Da Costa did not finish the race.
Here is the classification of the 2016 Marrakesh ePrix as follows:-
1. Sebastien Buemi, Renault e.Dams, 47.40.840s
2. Sam Bird, DS Virgin Racing, +2.457s
3. Felix Rosenqvist, Mahindra Racing, +7.195s
4. Nicolas Prost, Renault e.Dams, +11.586s
5. Lucas di Grassi, Abt Schaeffler Audi Sport, +13.771s
6. Daniel Abt, ABT Shaeffler Audi Sport, +18.233s
7. Oliver Turvey, NEXTEV NIO, +21.710s
8. Jean-Eric Vergne, Techeetah, +28.011s
9. Nick Heidfeld, Mahindra Racing, +33.699s
10. Jose Maria Lopez, DS Virgin Racing, +33.863s
11. Robin Frijns, Andretti, +37.092s
12. Stephane Sarrazin, Venturi, +40.683s
13. Jerome D'Ambrosio, Faraday Future Dragon Racing, +42.034s
14. Adam Carroll, Jaguar Racing, +49.026s
15. Ma Qing Hua, Techeetah, +50.433s
16. Nelson Piquet Jr, NEXTEV NIO, 1.15.452s
17. Mitch Evans, Jaguar Racing, 1 lap
18. Loic Duval, Faraday Future Dragon Racing, 2 laps
19. Maro Engel, Venturi, Not Classified
20. Antonio Felix Da Costa, Andretti, Not Classified
Sebastien Buemi leads the Formula E Drivers Championship with 50 points ahead of Lucas di Grassi in second with 28 points, Nicolas Prost in third with 24 points, Felix Rosenqvist in fourth with 19 points, Sam Bird in fifth with 18 points, Nick Heidfeld in sixth with 17 points, Antonio Felix Da Costa in seventh with 10 points, Oliver Turvey in eighth with 10 points, Robert Frijns is ninth with 8 points, Daniel Abt is in tenth with 8 points ,
Jerome D'Ambrosio is eleventh with 6 points, Jean-Eric Vergne is twelfth with 4 points, Nelson Piquet Jr is in thirteenth with 3 points, Maro Engel is fourteenth with 2 points, Stephane Sarrazin is fifteenth with 1 point, Jose Maria Lopez is sixteenth with 1 point and Loic Duval is seventeenth with 1 point.
Renault e.dams leads the Formula E Constructors Championship with 74 points, Abt Schaffler Audi Sport are second with 36 points, Mahindra Racing are third with 36 points, DS Virgin Racing are fourth with 19 points, Andretti are fifth with 18 points, NEXTEV NIO are sixth with 13 points, Faraday Future Dragon Racing are seventh with 7 points, Techeetah are eighth with 4 points and Venturi are ninth with 3 points.
Driving for Pleasure will be producing reports on every session of every ePrix the 2016/2017 FIA Formula E Championship as well as covering the latest news as it breaks in the paddock.
Sarah Jones- @jonesy_laaa
