Sam Bird speeds through the Central Harbourfront circuit
The FIA Formula E Championship sarted on Saturday with a gripping opening contest in Hong Kong. In the first of two races held during the weekend, Sam Bird sealed a surprise victory despite picking up a penalty for not stopping in his allocated space during the mid-race car swap.
Bird entered the pitlane eager to retain the advantage he’d built over Jean-Eric Vergne, but attacked his marks too aggressively on the dusty surface and skated to a halt outside the front of his garage.
He managed to jump out and into his second car without losing too much time. However, Bird didn’t make his mandatory car change in the box allocated to the driver – picking up a drive-through penalty in the process. But it wasn’t enough to stop him.
There were several contenders in a hotly-contested battle as Bird faced his former team- mate Vergne for the majority of the opening stint. Vergne led the way from Julius Baer pole position, fending off the fast-starting Mahindra of Nick Heidfeld.
Rosenqvist facing oncoming traffic in Hong Kong
On yesterday’s race, Macau GP double winner Felix Rosenqvist was elevated to first place in Hong Kong and earned his second victory in the Formula E Championship, after Daniel Abt was disqualified for a technical infringement.
The Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler driver was denied his first-ever win in Formula E on his 25th birthday following a post- race penalty, which found that the FIA security stickers (barcodes) on the inverter and MGU units didn’t correspond with those declared on the technical passport provided by the competitor for the event.
The result remains provisional subject to an appeal to the FIA International Court of Appeal by Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler, against the stewards’ decision to disqualify Abt from the race.
Abt pumped his fist as he crossed the finish-line, only to be stripped of victory hours later. The German chased debutant Edoardo Mortara for the majority of the race and inherited the lead with just two laps to go after the Venturi driver spun at Turn 2.
Street circuit specialist Mortara, who is nicknamed “Mr Macau” due to his exceptional results on the Guia Circuit, put on an impressive display in only his second-ever E-Prix, but made a mistake pushing too hard to obtain the extra point for the fastest Lap. He quickly recovered after pirouetting into the run-off area and re-joined to finish in a disappointing third – later promoted to second.
No Comments