LONDON: Lucas di Grassi took his maiden win for ROKiT Venturi Racing in the SABIC London E-Prix Round 14, overcoming Round 13 winner Jake Dennis of Avalanche Andretti in a hard-fought 38-lap battle on the 2.14-kilometer street circuit at ExCeL London.
Di Grassi emerged from the last of three mandatory Attack Mode activations with enough in hand to ensure he would overtake in-form Dennis when the Brit jumped for his last 30-kilowatt boost.
Home-crowd favorite Dennis had followed up Saturday’s win with a start from Julius Baer Pole Position, but the Brazilian stretched his advantage over the final few laps to take the chequered flag.
Di Grassi said: “(Winning) means everything. Thank you everybody for being here. Congratulations to all my competitors, all the great drivers out there.
“It was a massive fight with Jake. It was very strategic – using Attack Mode at the right moment, saving energy at the right moment. The team gave me the perfect feedback. The car was amazing today and after what happened yesterday, I think we deserve it very much,” he added.
Nyck de Vries came home third, while his Mercedes-EQ teammate – Drivers’ Championship leader Stoffel Vandoorne – finished fourth having started 13th on the grid. His closest title rival Mitch Evans of Jaguar TCS Racing had made his way to as high as fourth from 14th at the start of the race, but a late technical problem prematurely ended his London race and dealt a hammer blow to his title chances with retirement from proceedings and a non-score.
Edoardo Mortara, Di Grassi’s team-mate at ROKiT Venturi Racing, did his utmost to claim points from 17th on the grid but a scrappy, combative performance could only yield 13th position. Jean-Eric Vergne of DS Techeetah retired early on, seemingly in contact, all but ending his Drivers’ World Championship charge.
Antonio Felix da Costa fought to fifth in the sister DS Techeetah, with Sebastien Buemi (Nissan e.dams) producing his second-best result of Season 8 in sixth, Robin Frijns of Envision Racing coming seventh, and Sam Bird eighth for Jaguar TCS Racing on home soil.
FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem attended his first ABB FIA Formula E World Championship race since taking over the presidency in December. He met executives, team principals, and drivers from across the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship before being welcomed to the podium to present the winning trophy to Di Grassi.
It now looks to be a head-to-head between Evans and Vandoorne for the title with 58 points on offer in two weeks at the Hana Bank Seoul E-Prix double-header weekend, the final two races of Season 8 in the 16-race calendar The Belgian now holds a commanding 36-point margin over the Jaguar driver in the points table.
ROKiT Venturi Racing jumped DS Techeetah to go second in the Teams’ World Championship, though Mercedes-EQ extended its lead to 35 points.
