Five winners from five races in Formula E | GRR
On the streets of Marrakech on Saturday, the Formula E season continued as António Félix da Costa scored his first race victory since switching this season from BMW Andretti to DS Techeetah to become the fifth different winner in five rounds.
It was Sam Bird who came out on top in the first race of the 19/20 season, in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia, and then Alexander Sims in race two. Maximilian Gunther took the win in Santiago before Mitch Evans triumphed in Mexico. With da Costa’s victory in Marrakesh, will there be a sixth different winner at the sixth round in Rome?
The Portuguese driver da Costa started from pole position, but faced a stern challenge from the increasingly impressive Maximilian Günther, who briefly led. The Santiago race winner then faced a challenge of his own from reigning champion Jean-Eric Vergne, who overcame illness to rise from 11th on the grid to score his first podium of the season.
Vergne appeared set to deliver a DS one-two, only for Günther to pounce in the closing stages as the Frenchman began to run low on power. Still, third in the circumstances and after a difficult start to his season, was a decent return for a man who looked a whiter shade of pale on the podium.
Da Costa has now moved to the head of the points standings, 11 up on Jaguar’s Mitch Evans who finished in a strong sixth place after his team let him down badly in qualifying. A furious Evans wasn’t released in time to log a qualifying lap and was forced to start from the back.
Top Brit remains Alexander Sims (BMW Andretti) who is now 10 further points back from Evans after failing to add to his tally in Marrakech. He was running in sixth when he clashed with Venturi’s Edoardo Mortara on the last lap and was forced to retire. Mortara still managed to come home in fifth behind Nissan’s Sébastien Buemi.
Images courtesy of Motorsport Images.