Audi Sport took their second successive win of the year thanks to Lucas di Grassi ruling the streets of Zurich.
Even though he looks set to lose his FIA Formula E Championship title to TECHEETAH’s Jean-Eric Vergne or DS Virgin Racing’s Sam Bird this year, Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler’s Lucas di Grassi took his first win of the season and made back to back wins for Audi in the 2017-18 edition of the all-electric race series.
Di Grassi stood on the top of the podium at the Zurich E-Prix and became the first winner of a single-seater race in Switzerland since Juan Manuel Fangio won the Swiss Grand Prix Bremgarten in 1954, the seventh round of that year’s Formula 1 World Championship.
Di Grassi made his move during the first stint of the race after narrowly missing out on super pole in qualifying. The Brazilian picked off the leading pack one-by-one over the course of the opening period of the race, crucially taking the lead from Mitch Evans, approaching the mid-race car swaps, and held station to the chequered flag.
Bird kept his championship hopes alive with second place and a sixth podium finish of the season.
With Vergne struggling in qualifying, as well as serving a drive-through for speeding under Full Course Yellow, Bird seized the opportunity and now sits 23 points adrift heading into the final two races of the year.
The TECHEETAH driver started on the back foot and couldn’t find the speed in qualifying, lining-up in 17th. Despite the troubles, he made progress prior to changing cars and jumped seven places in the opening nine laps.
Vergne drew alongside Felix Rosenqvist on the main straight and put a move on the Mahindra driver into the tight Turn 1. The Swede ran out of road and went into the barrier on the outside of the first corner, but managed to return to the garage and left debris across the track.
As Vergne was tussling with Jerome D’Ambrosio – and lapping Rosenqvist – the Frenchman drove over the rear wing of the Mahindra, which was followed by a Full Course Yellow to clean the section between Turns 2 and 3.
The caution period led to the majority of the field coming into the pits to reduce the impact of the time spent swapping cars, but a slow pit-stop dropped Vergne down the order forcing him to mount yet another fightback. However, his move through the pack was short-lived after being handed a penalty.
Di Grassi and Bird were joined on the podium by Jerome D’Ambrosio, signalling the first time the Belgian has stood on the podium since 2016 in Battersea Park. D’Ambrosio benefitted from a host of drivers also being penalised but showed the renewed pace of the DRAGON outfit.
Vergne wasn’t the only driver to fall foul of speeding under Full Course Yellow – with Evans, Andre Lotterer, Jose Maria Lopez and Sebastien Buemi also being hit with drive-through penalties.
Lotterer, who started on the front row, crossed the line in fourth and also claimed the extra point for Visa fastest lap. Former champion and local favourite Buemi ended-up in fifth, passing thousands of adoring fans lining the streets in Zurich on his cool down lap.
Mahindra Racing’s Nick Heidfeld earned his best finish of the season, since a podium place in Hong Kong with sixth. Evans, who secured the first-ever Julius Baer pole position for Panasonic Jaguar Racing, could only manage seventh after also losing time passing through the pitlane.
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