Jean-Eric Vergne (DS TECHEETAH) picked his moments perfectly to drive from fifth to victory in the opening race of the FIA Formula E Championship, Rome E-Prix double-header, around the streets of the EUR District, heading home Jaguar Racing pair Sam Bird and Mitch Evans, who started 13th, – the British squad’s first double podium.
Envision Virgin Racing’s Robin Frijns continued his strong momentum with a fourth-place finish during today’s rain-affected action-packed Formula E race in Rome.
The Dutch driver, who finished second at the last round in Diriyah, remained a front-runner throughout the dramatic 24-lap race, which eventually finished under safety car conditions following a late multi-car collision.
Meanwhile, rookie team-mate Nick Cassidy worked his way through the field around the 19-turn, 3.380km street circuit from P22 on the grid to cross the line an impressive 10th – only to have his maiden points taken away from him following a post-race penalty.
Cassidy commented, “I’m a bit disappointed with today as we had the pace to be right at the front, especially in qualifying. We had a few challenges during the race, but we were up on energy towards the end so disappointed it was cut short, but we’ll see what we’ve got for Sunday’s race and hopefully come back stronger.”
The result now sees Mitch Evan’s Jaguar team on top with Cassidy’s Envision Virgin Racing team in fourth place in the standings.
Formula E is back in action tomorrow with round four getting underway at 13:00.
ABB FIA Formula E World Championship
Rome E-Prix Round 3 – Provisional Results:
1/ Jean-Eric Vergne, DS Techeetah, 24 laps (25pts)
2/ Sam Bird, Jaguar Racing, +0.461s (18pts)
3/ Mitch Evans, Jaguar Racing, +0.756s (16pts) (FL)
4/ Robin Frijns, Envision Virgin Racing, +1.034s (12pts)
5/ Sebastien Buemi, Nissan E.Dams, +3.142s (10pts)
6/ Rene Rast, Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler, +3.534s (8pts)
7/ Pascal Wehrlein, TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team, +3.918s (6pts)
8/ Alex Lynn, Mahindra Racing, +5.720s (4pts)
9/ Max Gunther, BMW I Andretti Motorsport, +18.296s (2pts)
10/ Tom Blomqvist, NIO 333 +19.089s (1pt)
P16/ Nick Cassidy, Envision Virgin Racing
Pole = Stoffel Vandoorne
Drivers’ Standings (after Rd 3)
1/ Sam Bird, 43 pts
2/ Robin Frijns, 34 pts
3/ Nyck de Vries, 32 pts
4/ Mitch Evans, 31pts
5/ Jean-Eric Vergne, 25pts
21/ Nick Cassidy, 0pt
Teams Standings (after Rd 3):
1/ Jaguar Racing, 74 pts
2/ DS Techeetah, 40pts
3/ Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team, 39 pts
4/ Envision Virgin Racing, 34pts
5/ Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler, 27pts
Comments