Jean-Eric Vergne (left) battles with Lucas Di Grassi
Jean-Eric Vergne extended his Formula E points lead after coming through a thrilling race long dice with Lucas di Grassi to win the Punta del Este ePrix.
The former Toro Rosso Formula 1 driver was locked in a battle with di Grassi from the start after inheriting pole position from the Brazilian, who was penalised in qualifying for cutting a chicane.
Di Grassi chased Vergne hard in the early stages with the fight for the lead continuing after a brief Safety Car caused by Nick Heidfeld’s stricken Mahindra.
The top two made their mandatory car swaps on lap 19 with Vergne emerging from the pits ahead of di Grassi for what was a tense final 17 laps.
Di Grassi tried everything to pass the Techeetah driver which resulted in contact on two occasions as the race reached its climax.
However, Vergne managed to hold on to take the win by 0.4s from di Grassi to open up a 30 point lead at the top of the standings.
Virgin Racing’s Sam Bird briefly joined the top two to make it a three-way dice for the lead, before dropping back in the closing stages to finish third, 2.1s adrift.
New Zealand’s Mitch Evans produced a stunning drive from 16th to fourth after he was penalised in qualifying for a weight distribution infringement.
The result was the Jaguar Racing driver’s fourth top 10 finish of the season.
Felix Rosenqvist finished fifth for Mahindra ahead of Alex Lynn (Virgin Racing), who was one of three drivers penalised in qualifying for cutting the chicane.
Lynn had run as high as third in the race before dropping down to sixth in front of Oliver Turvey (NIO Formula E team).
The top 10 was completed by the Dragon Racing duo of Jose Maria Lopez and Jerome d’Ambrosio and Venturi’s Maro Engel.
Sebastien Buemi and Nelson Piquet Jnr retired after the pair were forced to switch cars early after incurring damage early in the race.
The Formula E Championship heads to Rome for Round 7 on April 14.
VIDEO: FIA Formula E Championship Round 6 – Punta del Este highlights
Results: FIA Formula E Championship Round 6 – Punta del Este
Position
Driver
Team
Car
Gap
1
Jean-Eric Vergne
Techeetah
Renault
37 laps
2
Lucas di Grassi
Audi
Audi
0.447s
3
Sam Bird
Virgin
DS Virgin
2.611s
4
Mitch Evans
Jaguar
Jaguar
4.075s
5
Felix Rosenqvist
Mahindra
Mahindra
4.224s
6
Alex Lynn
Virgin
DS Virgin
7.672s
7
Oliver Turvey
NIO
NextEV NIO
11.818s
8
Jose Maria Lopez
Dragon
Penske
12.612s
9
Jerome d’Ambrosio
Dragon
Penske
22.242s
10
Maro Engel
Venturi
Venturi
26.293s
11
Antonio Felix da Costa
Andretti
Andretti
27.335s
12
Andre Lotterer
Techeetah
Renault
38.731s
13
Luca Filippi
NIO
NextEV NIO
39.926s
14
Daniel Abt
Audi
Audi
43.139s
15
Nicolas Prost
e.dams
Renault
47.194s
16
Tom Blomqvist
Andretti
Andretti
59.299s
17
Edoardo Mortara
Venturi
Venturi
1 Lap
DNF
Sebastien Buemi
e.dams
Renault
DNF
Nelson Piquet Jr.
Jaguar
Jaguar
DNF
Nick Heidfeld
Mahindra
Mahindra
Championship Standings
Position
Driver
Points
1
Jean-Eric Vergne
109
2
Felix Rosenqvist
79
3
Sam Bird
76
4
Sebastien Buemi
52
5
Nelson Piquet Jr.
45
6
Mitch Evans
41
7
Daniel Abt
37
8
Oliver Turvey
32
9
Edoardo Mortara
28
10
Lucas di Grassi
21
11
Nick Heidfeld
21
12
Andre Lotterer
18
13
Alex Lynn
17
14
Antonio Felix da Costa
16
15
Jose Maria Lopez
13
16
Maro Engel
7
17
Nicolas Prost
7
18
Jerome d’Ambrosio
6
19
Tom Blomqvist
4
20
Luca Filippi
1
21
Kamui Kobayashi
0
22
Neel Jani
0
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