Vergne victorious on Sanya shores

– Jean-Eric Vergne wins on the streets of Sanya to reignite title defence
– Reigning champion vaults up the standings with victory on home soil for DS TECHEETAH
– Da Costa takes lead of ABB FIA Formula E Championship with 10 points separating top-six drivers
 
2019 FWD Sanya E-Prix (Rd 6)
Race re-cap
Jean-Eric Vergne secured a much-needed victory in Sanya on home soil for the Chinese DS TECHEETAH team, vaulting the reigning champion to third in the standings and reigniting his title defence.

Without a point to his name in the previous three races, Vergne’s championship aspirations were at a crossroads coming to Sanya. However, such is the close competition of the ABB FIA Formula E Championship, the win jumps Vergne up the order to sit only eight points adrift of Antonio Felix da Costa.

Not only is it a sixth victory for Vergne in Formula E, the result sees a sixth different driver standing on the top step in as many races – still without a repeat winner this season.

Vergne started on the front row alongside Oliver Rowland, who lined-up in Julius Baer pole position for Nissan e.dams. With the leading pack running nose-to-tail in the early stages of the race, Vergne made his move at just over half race distance – catching Rowland unawares up the inside of the tight left-hander at Turn 11.

From there Vergne maintained position and held on to victory, despite a late scare for not respecting the safety car procedure resulting in a reprimand. Vergne also collected a point for fastest lap, which puts him tied on points with Envision Virgin Racing’s Sam Bird – who failed to score after a coming together with Stoffel Vandoorne on the opening lap.

Rowland crossed the line in second place – disappointed to miss out on a maiden victory in Formula E, but earning a first podium finish for the Nissan e.dams outfit after squandering a number of chances in Santiago, Mexico City, and Hong Kong.

The podium positions were rounded-out by Da Costa who held station in third, moving the BMW i Andretti Motorsport driver back to the top of the standings after another large haul of points.

Vergne’s team-mate Andre Lotterer added to DS TECHEETAH’s tally in fourth – avoiding damage after a scuffle with Alexander Sims. Although, Sims wasn’t so fortunate after stopping on track with suspension damage and bringing out the red flags. After a short delay in the pitlane, the race got back underway with 12-minutes left on the countdown clock.

Daniel Abt was the highest-ranked Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler driver in fifth, with Sebastien Buemi bouncing back to sixth after starting in the pitlane following issues in qualifying – later dropping to ninth for causing a collision with Robin Frijns.

Approaching the halfway mark of the season, the top-six drivers are only separated by 10 points. It’s wide open in the title race as the series heads to Rome for the start of the voestalpine European races on April 13 – round seven of the ABB FIA Formula E Championship.

For more analysis and to read the full race report, visit – www.FIAFormulaE.com

DS TECHEETAH
Jean-Eric Vergne
“This is our first win as a new team, and I feel very proud and happy to have been able to bring this victory to DS. It’s a new relationship and it’s always difficult when you start. But after 20 races in a row with points, the last three races not being able to score any points was extremely hard – I didn’t sleep very well between Hong Kong. It was a big day for us – we’re a Chinese team and winning here was absolutely amazing. On the podium, when we had the Chinese anthem and all the fans were singing… it was actually quite emotional.”

Nissan e.dams
Oliver Rowland
“On one side I’m happy and on the other a little bit disappointed. I had a good opportunity there – JEV did a good job – he surprised me and I knew he was going to at some point. I’m of course very happy with the podium and it’s been a while. I lost it in Mexico and again I was leading in Hong Kong. It’s been a pretty tough three races with three DNFs, so it’s nice to score some points. I was struggling a lot and I knew that if I dropped back – when you start dropping back in Formula E races – everybody thinks that you’re slow and they will use their energy to overtake you. I knew I couldn’t afford to drop too far back and I was on the limit, within the rules but on the limit. I had to be aggressive.”

BMW i Andretti Motorsport
Antonio Felix da Costa
“I’m happy with the points obviously, but I wanted to take a little bit more today. Certainly, after following these two guys I thought we had the car to win but it’s not easy to overtake, you have to take a lot of risks especially if it’s someone like Oliver. I knew exactly what was going on in his mind, he wanted this podium a lot and he knew that I needed the points – so I took a little risk at some point but he defended late and I was already half-committed. It could’ve ended badly but luckily everything worked out. It is what it is. I’m happy with this, there’s still a long way to go, we’re only just halfway now and we need to make sure we’re there in July.”

Podcast – Six out of six

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Start on the streets of Sanya

2019 FWD Sanya E-Prix (Rd 6)
Race results

FIA Formula E Championship
Driver standings

2018/19 ABB FIA Formula E Championship
Team standings

About the ABB FIA Formula E Championship:
The ABB FIA Formula E Championship is the closest, most intense and progressive category in motorsport, bringing electrifying racing to the streets against the backdrop of landmarks, skyscrapers, and skylines in some of the world’s most famous and recognisable cities – such as Hong Kong, Rome, Paris, and New York.

Formula E enters a new and exciting era in season five with the competitive debut of the next generation car. The striking new model boasts a distinctive futuristic design and demonstrates a clear step-up in performance with almost double the energy storage capacity – allowing teams and drivers to complete a full race distance at higher speeds without needing to swap cars. The Gen2 car is a testament to the ongoing advancements in battery and electric vehicle technology in the space of only four years.

The fifth edition of the ABB FIA Formula E Championship will see 11 teams and 22 drivers tackle a variety of challenging circuits in 12 cities – across five continents – in a bid to be crowned champion. Formula E made its debut in the Middle East on December 15 for the season-opener in Ad Diriyah, with the championship once again coming to a close in New York City over the course of two days on July 13 & 14.

The concept of Formula E is to act as a platform to test and develop road-relevant technologies, helping refine the design and functionality of components and infrastructure – actively speeding-up the transition and uptake of electric vehicles on a global scale.

Formula E is continuing to attract some of the leading names and renowned brands in motorsport and the automotive industry. For this season, Formula E has nine manufacturers on its roster – including Nissan – taking over the existing entry from Renault – and BMW linking-up with Andretti. This number is set to rise further still, with the highly-anticipated inclusion of Mercedes-Benz and Porsche in season six.

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About ABB:
ABB (ABBN: SIX Swiss Ex) is a pioneering technology leader in power grids, electrification products, industrial automation and robotics, and motion, serving customers in utilities, industry and transport & infrastructure globally. Continuing a history of innovation spanning more than 130 years, ABB today is writing the future of industrial digitalisation with two clear value propositions: bringing electricity from any power plant to any plug and automating industries from natural resources to finished products. As title partner of the ABB FIA Formula E Championship, the fully-electric international FIA motorsport class, ABB is pushing the boundaries of e-mobility to contribute to a sustainable future. ABB operates in more than 100 countries with about 147,000 employees. www.abb.com

Sources: ABB FIA Formula E Championship PR

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