Sebastien Buemi
Reigning FIA Formula E champion Sebastien Buemi got his title defense off to the perfect start with victory in the 2016 HKT Hong Kong ePrix on Sunday.
Buemi hit the front in the second half of the race when Sam Bird pitted for his mandatory car swap. But the DS Virgin Racing car failed to pull out of the pits, allowing Buemi, who had made his stop under the safety car, to take over out front for his seventh Formula E win.
“We had identified a window when we knew we could pit,” said Buemi. “I was surprised that Sam did not come in. But I’m happy with how it went – it was very tough. In the first car I didn’t have the pace to go much quicker, but in the second car was much more competitive.”
From the start it was pole position man Nelson Piquet Jr. who led into the tight first corner, and the Brazilian held a comfortable lead over his team-mate Oliver Turvey in the early stages. Turvey had his hands full defending from Bird and Buemi, while behind them bumping and barging resulted in numerous incidents.
During this period there was also some contact between Bird and his DS Virgin racing team-mate Jose Maria Lopez and the damage to ‘Pechito’s’ car had made it a real handful. Finally, he lost the fight and crashed into the barriers at the chicane.
The next car along was race-leader Piquet, and unsighted, he had to slam on the brakes to avoid hitting the Argentine. As his brakes locked he sailed down the escape road before gently nerfing the barrier. His car was undamaged, but he had dropped to third by the time he re-joined.
Bird led from Buemi, but with the safety car deployed so that Lopez’s car could be extracted, the Renault e.dams team opted to pit their man. This proved to be the decisive moment of the race. DS Virgin kept Bird out, while Nextev Nio chose to stop Piquet just as the race was going back to green.
These two errors – compounded by a technical problem that delayed Bird in the pits – sealed the win for Buemi. He still had to put a move on di Grassi, who following some amazing pitwork by the team in replacing his damaged nose – and a very aggressive energy strategy – finished second from 19th on the grid.
A stunning first lap, which took him from 10th to sixth, played a major part in Nick Heidfeld taking third place for Mahindra Racing. Like his fellow podium finishers, he had to work hard to make his energy last. He did it perfectly, crossing the line as he hit zero per cent.
The FIA Formula E championship now moves to North Africa for the first time, with the Marrakesh ePrix on November 12.
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