Frijns finishes first in New York with Vergne securing FE title

Robin Frijns rounded out the season in style with victory in New York for Envision Virgin Racing, as Jean-Eric Vergne pulled his way up into the points to clinch the ABB FIA Formula E Championship.

Vergne drove a clean and clever race, staying out of trouble and advancing up the order to seventh place and securing a second successive title. The DS TECHEETAH driver did enough to defend his crown and become the first back-to-back champion in Formula E history.

Entering the final E-Prix of the season, Vergne still held a sizable advantage in the points table and only needed to avoid a non-scoring finish to put himself in prime position to pick-up the prize.

After again struggling in the first group of qualifying, the Frenchman found himself down in 12th on the grid and looking to gain places during the race. However, he wasn’t the only championship contender eager to make a move forwards, with both Lucas di Grassi and Mitch Evans failing to make it to the super pole shoot-out.

Despite Sebastien Buemi’s best efforts, his championship chances were cut short after being beaten to pole position by Alexander Sims – missing out on the three precious points on offer.

Vergne kept di Grassi and Evans in his vision and calmly controlled his championship destiny by negotiating his way to ninth nearing the end of the race. Although it was settled shortly before the finish and quickly became a formality as di Grassi and Evans came to blows and ended in the barriers only four corners from the chequered flag.

Taking two places on the final lap, Vergne vaulted further up the field to seventh and crossed the line to confirm his place in the history books as the first double champion and the first driver to successfully defend his title.

Frijns fended off Sims and Buemi to finish in the points for the first time since winning on the streets of Paris back in April. The result moved Frijns to fourth in the standings and marks Sims first podium finish in Formula E.

It’s time to celebrate, but the countdown has started for the new season, with the ABB FIA Formula E Championship picking-up again in Ad Diriyah on November 22 & 23.

Race results

1 Robin Frijns Envision Virgin Racing 47:22.289s (25)
2 Alexander Sims BMW i Andretti Motorsport +3.200s (21)
3 Sebastien Buemi Nissan e.dams +3.912s (15)
4 Sam Bird Envision Virgin Racing +4.270s (12)
5 Daniel Abt Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler +4.757s (11)
6 Oliver Rowland Nissan e.dams +8.382s (8)
7 Jean-Eric Vergne DS TECHEETAH +9.446s (6)
8 Stoffel Vandoorne HWA RACELAB +9.738s (4)
9 Antonio Felix da Costa BMW i Andretti Motorsport +11.727s (2)
10 Gary Paffett HWA RACELAB +12.251s (1)
11 Jerome D’Ambrosio MAHINDRA RACING +18.944s  
12 Pascal Wehrlein MAHINDRA RACING +27.144s  
13 Oliver Turvey NIO Formula E Team +28.045s  
14 Tom Dillmann NIO Formula E Team +28.580s  
15 Felipe Massa VENTURI Formula E Team +28.635s  
16 Alex Lynn Panasonic Jaguar Racing +41.420s  
17 Mitch Evans Panasonic Jaguar Racing +1:27.009s  
18 Lucas di Grassi Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler 1 Lap  
19 Maximilian Gunther GEOX DRAGON 2 Laps  
         
DNF Edoardo Mortara VENTURI Formula E Team 17 Laps  
DNF Andre Lotterer DS TECHEETAH 3 Laps  
DNF Jose Maria Lopez GEOX DRAGON 2 Laps  

Driver Standings

Jean-Eric Vergne DS TECHEETAH 136
Sebastien Buemi Nissan e.dams 119
Lucas di Grassi Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler 108
Robin Frijns Envision Virgin Racing 106
Mitch Evans Panasonic Jaguar Racing 105
Antonio Felix da Costa BMW i Andretti Motorsport 99
Daniel Abt Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler 95
Andre Lotterer DS TECHEETAH 86
Sam Bird Envision Virgin Racing 85
Oliver Rowland Nissan e.dams 71
Jerome D’Ambrosio MAHINDRA RACING 67
Pascal Wehrlein MAHINDRA RACING 58
Alexander Sims BMW i Andretti Motorsport 57
Edoardo Mortara VENTURI Formula E Team 52
Felipe Massa VENTURI Formula E Team 36
Stoffel Vandoorne HWA RACELAB 35
Maximilian Gunther GEOX DRAGON 20
Alex Lynn Panasonic Jaguar Racing 10
Gary Paffett HWA RACELAB 9
Oliver Turvey NIO Formula E Team 7
Jose Maria Lopez GEOX DRAGON 3
Nelson Piquet Jr. Panasonic Jaguar Racing 1
Tom Dillmann NIO Formula E Team 0
Felipe Nasr GEOX DRAGON 0
Felix Rosenqvist MAHINDRA RACING 0

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