By sportswriter Michael Butterworth
SANYA, March 23 (Xinhua) -- Jean-Eric Vergne took a fairytale home win for his Chinese-owned DS Techeetah team at the Sanya ePrix today to become the sixth different winner in as many races in the 2018-19 Formula E season. In the searing heat and humidity in China's Hainan Province, the Frenchman reigned supreme in what was generally a scrappy affair with several drivers coming into contact.
At the start, pole man Oliver Rowland set off at the head of the field as the opening laps passed without much in the way of major incident. The Briton looked to be struggling a little with his race pace, however, as Vergne and the rest of the top six soon formed a train behind Rowland, but the tight confines of the Sanya circuit and the Briton's speed coming off the slow corners prevented any serious overtaking attempts.
Further down the field, several drivers were caught out by the concertina effect produced as they negotiated Sanya's twists and turns. Stoffel Vandoorne and championship leader Sam Bird had to retire after colliding, and Jose Maria Lopez was also obliged to pull off after contact.
Other drivers who failed to finish included Felipe Nasr, who suffered a technical fault shortly after the start, and Gary Paffett, also struck by mechanical gremlins. Former Formula E champion Nelson Piquet had a torrid weekend, qualifying last on the grid and retiring late in the race after contact with the unforgiving circuit walls.
Up at the front, Rowland's lack of speed relative to the rest of the field became increasingly evident as the race wore on, with the top six drivers running nose to tail at the clock ticked past halfway on lap 18. Though the Briton had defended valiantly up to this point, Vergne would not be denied two laps later, outbraking Rowland to take the lead as they exited the final left-hand turn to begin lap 21.
The Frenchman's successful manoeuvre clearly emboldened the other cars in the train, as Antonio Felix da Costa used one of his two allotted attack modes to muscle into third past Daniel Abt, and Alex Sims was forced to retire as he clouted the wall after contact with Vergne's teammate Andre Lotterer. Unable to move his car from the middle of the track, Sims' stricken BMW saw the race halted for ten minutes while the circuit was cleared.
When proceedings did resume, almost all the leading runners selected to use their second and final attack mode, with battery life no longer an issue for the drivers after safety car deployments earlier in the race had allowed for greater energy conservation.
The sense of urgency engendered by the ten minutes sprint to the finish proved profitable for Lotterer, who barged past Abt into fourth place, and Lucas Di Grassi, with the Brazilian making good use of his final attack mode to take sixth from Robin Frijns, who was defenceless having used his two attack modes earlier in the race.
Sebastien Buemi was also in belligerent mood after having started from the pitlane following a brake-related infringement in qualifying, but the Swiss's impatience got the better of him on the penultimate lap, as he nudged Frijns into Di Grassi on the approach to the turn 18 hairpin. With the Brazilian going against regulations by hopping out of his stricken car, race stewards had no option but to throw a full-course yellow, allowing Vergne to cruise home unopposed. The Frenchman had been under investigation for not respecting the safety car procedure on the restart, but ultimately escaped a penalty to take his first victory of the 2018/19 season.
Pole-sitter Rowland ultimately settled for second place, having been advised by his team to hold position in the closing laps rather than push for the win and risk a collision. Da Costa held onto third followed by Lotterer, Abt and Buemi, with Jerome D'Ambrosio, Pascal Wehrlein, Mitch Evans and Edoardo Mortara rounding out the points-paying positions.
The result sees Da Costa take the overall championship lead with 62 points, with D'Ambrosio in second on 59. Despite not having scored in the previous three races, Vergne's run to glory sees him shoot up to third in the standings with 54 points, level with erstwhile points leader Sam Bird who failed to score this weekend.
Formula E heads to Rome next, for round 7 of the 2018-19 season on April 13.
