History was made, when ABB FIA Formula E Championship drove the first motor racing in Switzerland in last 64 years.
The country had forbidden motor racing since the tragic accident at Le Mans in 1995, but two years ago they started to open up to motorsport again.
Mitch Evans took Pole Position in front of Andre Lotterer, and Sam Bird. Jerome D’Ambrosio had qualified fourth, ahead of last season’s champion, Lucas Di Grassi. It wasn’t only the first ever Pole Position for Evans, but also for Panasonic Jaguar Racing in Formula E.
Jean-Eric Vergne had a chance for a match point, but he should start the race all the down from 17th! Which was why Bird had a golden opportunity to trim up their point gap.
Photo: ABB FIA Formula E
The start went well for everybody, who more or less kept their positions.
However, there were problems for Daniel Abt later on the first lap, when he got hit from behind by Nelson Piquet Jr. It cost Abt his rear wing, while Piquet Jr. broke his front wing. The two drivers continued on the track, as the cars could still drive. But later they got ordered by the race control to change the defected parts.
Lucas Di Grassi climbed up to fourth place on the second lap, when he dived past Jerome D’Ambrosio. A few corners later, Buemi also went past D’Ambrosio.
Edoardo Mortara was the first driver who retired from the race. It happened when he broke his rear suspension over a curb.
Jean-Eric Vergne had worked his way to 10th place in the first eleven laps, and he even got more power than the drivers around him.
Daniel Abt, Lucas Di Grassi, and Sebastien Buemi were the three drivers who received the Fan Boost in today’s race.
Di Grassi outbraked himself past Bird after one third of the race, and he then had his eye on Lotterer on P2. One lap later he drove past Lotterer, which made Evans the only person in front of him on the track. The gap between them got closed up only after a lap, and Di Grassi could blow past Evans on the straight.
Photo: ABB FIA Formula E
Jean-Eric Vergne and Felix Rosenqvist brushed against each other on the way to Turn one, which sent Rosenqvist to the wall.
Vergne could continue without a problem, and he even managed to overtake D’Ambrosio before a Full Course Yellow was declared due to debris on the track.
All the drivers used that to their advantage to take their obligatory pitstop.
Vergne had problems with starting the new car after the pitstop, so he lost two positions in the pits. But when the car finally got started, it could drive fine.
Di Grassi had built up his lead, but the race would see another twist with just eight laps left.
Mitch Evans, Jose Maria Lopez, Andre Lotterer, Sebastien Buemi, and Jean-Eric Vergne all got a drive-through penalty for driving too fast under the FCY period.
Thus the order of the top three was Di Grassi, Bird and D’Ambrosio.
Photo: ABB FIA Formula E
Nico Prost braked too late and failed to make a turn. He had to retire on the stop, since the car could no longer drive.
Jose Maria Lopez outbraked himself in Turn one and fell out of the points.
Lucas Di Grassi won the race ahead of Sam Bird and Jerome D’Ambrosio, while championship leader Vergne finished all the way down in p10 and hence only got a single point.
It means that Jean-Eric Vergne is now just 23 points ahead of Sam Bird in the drivers’ championship. Lucas Di Grassi is third, in front of Sebastian Buemi, Felix Rosenqvist, and Daniel Abt
Techeetah still leads the team championship, however Audi Sport Abt Schaeffler has slowly but surely gotten closer in the last couple of races. DS Virgin Racing has distanced themselves even further from Mahindra Racing in the battle for third place.
