Bethonie WaringEdoardo Mortara wins a safety car stricken second Formula E race of the season.
The Venturi driver had taken the lead of the race from team-mate Lucas Di Grassi using attack mode and had a comfortable gap back to P2 when the racing was paused.
An accident for Alexander Sims in the closing stages of the race brought out the safety car with less than 10 minutes on the clock.
Racing could not resume and Mortara claimed the victory in the second race of the season and taking an early championship lead.
It was pole sitter Nyck De Vries who led through most of the race. Through the first round of Attack Mode, he, second placed Mortara and third placed Di Grassi took it on the same lap. But the two Venturi cars claimed the second boost in power much earlier and Di Vries was left to struggle against them.
Di Grassi, who had overtaken his team-mate as Mortara took attack mode, was the first to overtake De Vries in a messy move at the chicane that resulted in both drivers making contact. The move allowed Mortara and Robin Frijns to close in on the duo and Mortara passed the Mercedes not long after.
As De Vries struggled to stay ahead of Frijns, the two Venturi cars were away at the front of the order. Mortara swept past his team-mate under Attack Mode and was unchallenged through most of the remainder of the race.
Frijns climbed up to second in the closing stages of the race, keeping the pressure on Mortara, but the Venturi driver didn’t put a wheel wrong and left Frijns no place to overtake. The pair were joined by Di Grassi and broke away from a small train that was beginning to form behind them. No positions would change before the safety car came out and Mortara led a Venturi 1-3 to the chequered flag.
After being passed by Frijns as he took Attack Mode, De Vries struggled to make use of the extra power. He came under attack from Jean-Eric Vergne and was passed by the Techeetah driver in a move that resulted in contact. The incident was followed by a drop in pace from De Vries, who slipped back to 10th. He was able to continue, but finished only P10.
Andre Lotterer came through to take fourth ahead of Jake Dennis and Vergne.
Stoffel Vandoorne came through from 12th on the grid to finish seventh, ahead of Oliver Rowland and Pascal Wehrlein.
