Mahindra Racing's Jerome d'Ambrosio secures maiden win at the Marrakesh E-Prix

Mahindra Racing was able to secure its first win of the season as Jerome d'Ambrosio secured a thrilling win in one of the most manic races of the Formula E history; this was d'Ambrosio's first win in his five-year Formula E career.

Mahindra Racing seems to be on a roll as the team has started the 2018-19 season on a very strong note. While the team managed to secure a podium finish in the season's opening E-Prix, it managed to bag a win in the Marrakesh E-Prix as Jerome d'Ambrosio crossed the chequered flag ahead of everyone after starting the race from 10th place. Behind him, Envision Virgin Racing's Robin Frijns and Sam Bird secured second and third place respectively as they battled through the chaos to keep their place on the podium. Frijns had started the race from the 8th place while Bird was the pole-sitter. The results were certainly uplifting for Envision Virgin Racing as both their drivers finished the opening race of the season without scoring any points.

Moments after the lights turned green, reigning champion Jean-Eric Vergne (DS Techeetah) spun on turn one after trying to take leader Sam Bird on the inside, which sent him from P2 to the 19th spot. However, despite an early debacle, Vergne managed to salvage some valuable points as he finished the race in P5. Sebastien Buemi (Nissan E.Dams), who had qualified in the third spot, also suffered while trying to avoid colliding into Vergne and consequently, managed to finish the race in P8.

Seven minutes into the race, Gary Paffet (HWA Racelab) damaged his car as he hit his teammate Stoffel Vandoorne. The race came to an end for both as they secured a DNF. While this was happening at the track, Pascal Wehrlein did not have his dream start to the 2018-19 season as his first appearance of the season ended in a DNF due to technical issues, which saw him drive into the pits to retire his car. Three out of the four DNFs came within the first ten minutes of the race.

At the front, Bird continued to lead the race with Antonio Felix da Costa (BMW i Andretti Motorsport) hunting him down in second. Costa's teammate Alex Sims, who was running in third, was being chased by Bird's teammate Frijns in fourth. However, on turn four, Bird's defence wasn't enough to keep the BMW at bay and da Costa took the lead with Sims passing Bird to take second. While the race seemed like a one-two finish for BMW, the unimaginable happened as Sims collided into his teammate while trying to overtake him, which sent da Costa into the tyre wall.

The crash allowed d'Ambrosio to take the lead while the safety car nearly sealed the race result. With the race restarting for just one lap with a shuffled front order, d'Ambrosio was able to dodge the attack from Frijns and Bird which allowed him to take the win. Alexander Sims eventually recovered to finish fourth behind Frijns and Bird, while teammates Vergne and Andre Lotterer (DS Techeetah) finished fifth and sixth, respectively. This was an impressive result for the team as Lotterer climbed up the order from P21.

While this was d'Ambrosio's maiden win in his five-year career and Mahindra Racing's first victory of the season, the win puts d'Ambrosio at the top of the driver standings with 40 points, followed by da Costa and Vergne both tied for second place with 28 points.