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Vandoorne wins hectic second Rome E-Prix

Stoffel Vandoorne took the win in an eventful second round of the Rome E-Prix. The race was no short of drama, incidents, and intense battles, in pure Formula E fashion.

Minutes before red lights went out, Race Control announced there would be another Safety Car start, just like it had happened yesterday in the first round of the E-Prix.

Green flags were waved three minutes into the race and things did not go in poleman Nick Cassidy’s way. He lost control of his car, locking rear brakes. He lost several positions and Norman Nato took the lead of the race.

In a move from the inside, Pascal Wehrlein overtook Nato and moved up to the top of the standings. Stoffel Vandoorne saw his chance and overtook the Frenchman as well, battling with the Porsche driver for the front spot.

It was not the easiest of races for Cassidy as what seemed like a promising day turned into a nightmare. He crashed into a wall and had to take his car back to the pits. Just after the incident, Race Control announced that the Kiwi driver and Oliver Rowland were under investigation for causing a collision, with Rowland given a 10-second time penalty for causing a collision.

This weekend has been definitely not a memorable one for Lucas di Grassi, after a coming together with rival Sebastien Buemi, as he hit a wall and damaged his car, which cost him his retirement. Full Course Yellow subsequently was deployed.

Vandoorne was able to move up to the lead of the race, while Alexander Sims was running behind him. Tight racing scenes happened a few positions behind as Maximilian Guenther overtook Nato to run in fourth place.

Nato and Wehrlein were having their own hard battle for the third position, with the Frenchman being ahead of the German for the majority of the duel.

Rene Rast crashed into a wall with the rear part of his car in the latter stages of the race which brought out the Safety Car so the car could be retrieved. A weekend to forget in the Audi garage, with both drivers having to retire from today’s race.

The Belgian managed in a smart way to maintain the lead, and ensured a one-lap shootout, but some positions behind him there was a three car crash between Mitch Evans, Nyck de Vries, and Rowland.

As chequered flag was waved, Vandoorne took victory, followed by Sims and Nato, although Wehrlein inherited third place from Nato as the Venturi driver was investigated and penalised for using too much energy thoughout the race and was disqualified from the race.

Sims showed a great defence of his second position ever since the moment he moved up there, while Nato was able to gain back an defend his third-place spot after an intense battle with Wehrlein in the last part of the race.

MInutes after the race finish, Race Control announced Nato had been penalised which meant that Wehrlein would be in the podium in third place. 

Andrea Perilli

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