With Sebastien Buemi on pole, the Swiss driver was keen to take another win.
As the race started, Buemi made a quick getaway from the rest of the field. Nick Heidfeld and Jean-Eric Vergne, who started second, tried to pass him during the opening lap but neither could quite find the right time to do so.
In the back, Oliver Turvey and Daniel Abt made minor contact but no major damage was done to either car.
Esteban Gutierrez who started from 4th with the Techeetah team was running back in 6th by the 15th lap of the race, despite trying multiple times to defend his position.
A few driver changes this time around as former GP2 driver Tom Dillmann filled in for Maro Engel at Venturi while Mike Conway, who had previously raced in multiple Formula E races, replaced Loic Duval at the Faraday Future Dragon team. Duval had conflicting schedules with DTM.
Lucas Di Grassi, one of the three drivers who won the Fan Boost, received a 10-Second-Time-Penalty for a pit-stop under the minimum time required. Daniel Abt and Buemi were the other two drivers who received the Fan Boost.
Things only got worse for Di Grassi on lap 20, when he and Da Costa collided after a tight and dangerous overtaking battle. Da Costa overtook the Brazilian before Di Grassi fought back. The two then made contact and crashed. Da Costa’s race was over but Di Grassi managed to keep going.
On lap 34, Jean-Eric Vergne crashed the other Techeetah car into the wall on the right side of the track after his steering failed. Vergne was running second in his home-race, but it was race over too soon for the former Toro Rosso driver.
Towards the end of the race Frijns and Gutierrez were each handed a 5-Second-Time-Penalty for speeding under the safety car.
Lucas Di Grassi crashed in the final laps, sending his ABT-Schaeffler car heavily into the barriers. An unlucky race for the Brazilian, especially after his earlier collision with Da Costa.
The race finished under the safety car and Sebastien Buemi took the win, followed by Lopez and Heidfeld.
RESULTS:
1. Sebastien Buemi / Renault e.Dams / Switzerland /
2. Jose Maria Lopez / DS Virgin Racing / Argentina
3. Nick Heidfeld / Mahindra Racing Formula E Team / Germany
4. Felix Rosenqvist / Mahindra Racing Formula E Team / Sweden
5. Nicolas Prost / Renault e.Dams / France
6. Robin Frijns / MS Amlin Andretti / Netherlands
7. Nelson Piquet Jr. / NextEV Nio / Brazil
8. Tom Dillmann / Venturi Formula E Team / France
9. Mitch Evans / Panasonic Jaguar Racing / New Zealand
10. Stephane Sarrazin / Venturi Formula E Team / France
11. Esteban Gutierrez / Techeetah / Mexico
12. Oliver Turvey / NextEV Nio / Great Britain
13. Daniel Abt / ABT-Schaeffler Audi Sport / Germany
14. Mike Conway / Faraday Future Dragon Racing / Great Britain
15. Adam Carroll / Panasonic Jaguar Racing / Great Britain
16. Sam Bird / DS Virgin Racing / Great Britain
RETIRED – Lucas Di Grassi / ABT-Schaeffler Audi Sport / Brazil / Crash
RETIRED – Jerome D’Ambrosio / Faraday Future Dragon Racing / Belgium /
RETIRED – Jean-Eric Vergne / Techeetah / France / Crash
RETIRED – Antonio Felix Da Costa / MS Amlin Andretti / Portugal / Collision
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Article Written By: Amy Hawk
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Photo rights belong to: FIA Formula E Media
