Lucas di Grassi claimed his second FIA Formula E Championship win in a race at Putrajaya in Malaysia that was packed with incident from start to finish.
The result see the ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport driver take over the lead in the Drivers Championship after two rounds. Teammate Daniel Abt came home in seventh meaning the German outfit also leads the Team standings.
Race one winner Sebastien Buemi started from pole position and had a clear run into the first corner, due to a technical problem with Stephane Sarrazin’s car. However, it would not be back-to-back wins for the Swiss, as his car ground to a halt as the race neared its mid-way point.
Di Grassi took over in second following the pitstop phase, after Dragon Racing’s Loic Duval suffered an over-long stop, and then gained the lead with a move on Nicolas Prost’s Renault e.dams car.
Both Antonio Felix da Costa and Duval were soon past Prost, after an entertaining battle, and Duval started to close in on the leader. But when a damper broke in the suspension of his car, his great run was ended and di Grassi was left unpressured at the front and duly collected the win.
Di Grassi commented, “It was an extremely tough race, mainly determined by battery temperature. But gladly we managed it better than the others, we did a fantastic job.
“The team in the background did a perfect job with the strategy and we managed to claim the victory and I’m now the leader in the championship.”
Late troubles for Duval and da Costa, coupled with a final lap crash Jerome D’Ambrosio saw DS Virgin’s Sam Bird claim the runner-up spot, despite strting way down in 14th on the grid.
Andretti’s Robin Frijns was third, Sarrazin came through to fourth, despite his problems at the start, and Bruno Senna took fifth for Mahindra Racing.
Da Costa managed to get his car restarted and came home sixth, with Abt in seventh.
Di Grassi was cautious not to get too carried away with his early season form though. “We won’t rest on our laurels: we are heading in the right direction, but we want to be even better so we can keep fighting at the front.”
After one of the most eventful races in Formula E’s short history, the teams and drivers now have a well-earned break before the series resumes in the amazing beachside setting of Punta del Este, Uruguay, on December 19.
Follow all of the action on ITV4.
