NEW YORK CITY – António Félix da Costa led from the start to checkered flag in the second race of the New York City E-Prix doubleheader, the first victory of the season for da Costa and his DS TECHEETAH team.
Stoffel Vandoorne (Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team) came home second in Round 12 of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship to move ahead of Edoardo Mortara (ROKiT Venturi Racing) at the top of the Drivers’ World Championship standings.
A third-place finish for Mitch Evans of Jaguar TCS Racing also closed the gap on Edoardo Mortara to five points after Mortara was limited to 10th place and a single point. A braking problem in Qualifying had marooned Mortara at the back of the grid.
In front of a second sell-out crowd on the scorching Brooklyn Street Circuit, Portuguese da Costa sprinted away from first on the grid and fended off the attentions of Alexander Sims (Mahindra Racing) early on before Vandoorne applied pressure later in the race. The Mercedes-EQ driver could find no way through, with da Costa expertly controlling his car’s energy and position all the way to the Chequered Flag.
Mitch Evans wound up third, holding on to a mid-race half-spin as he tried to break into the top. Evans hit a bump in the Turn 6 braking zone and caught a huge sideways slide to keep it out of the wall and drop only to fifth. By the checkered flag he had fought his way back to third and silverware, with Sims following home in fourth for Mahindra Racing.
Sam Bird’s scrap to fifth position from 16th on the grid left the Jaguar garage in raptures and reignited their Teams’ World Championship push. Robin Frijns rounded out the top six for Envision Racing. Nyck de Vries (Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team) was next over the line in seventh, with Jake Dennis (Avalanche Andretti) in eighth, TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team’s André Lotterer in ninth and Mortara recovering for a valuable point in 10th.
With just four rounds to go, Vandoorne returns to the top of the Drivers’ World Championship, with an 11-point margin over prior leader Mortara. Evans is five points further back in third with Jean-Éric Vergne unable to score, the Frenchman sits 27 points shy of the top. Mercedes-EQ is top of the Teams’ running, 10 points up on DS TECHEETAH
It’s London calling for the next stop in the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship. The London E-Prix double-header on 30 and 31 July is a unique event in the Formula E calendar with an outdoor/indoor track running through events venue ExCeL London.
Following Rounds 13 and 14 in London, it’s the Season 8 climax in South Korea with the first-ever Seoul E-Prix doubleheader of races concluding the biggest-ever 16-race calendar.