Jaguar’s Mitch Evans took a dominant win at the Mexico City E-Prix after a brave move at the first corner.
The New Zealander overtook polesitter Andre Lotterer after squeezing his car between the wall and the Porsche.
Britain’s Sam Bird looked set for a well-earned second place for Envision Virgin Racing before crashing out under pressure from Antonio Felix da Costa with four minutes to go.
Evans takes the lead in the drivers’ standings from Stoffel Vandoorne.
Mercedes driver Vandoorne failed to score for the first time this season as Britain’s Alexander Sims, who finished fifth for BMW iAndretti, moved into second place in the standings on 46 points, one behind Evans.
“Huge come back from Santiago – thank you. We had a good qualifying car, now we have a good race car,” said Evans, who took one of the most dominant wins in the history of Formula E in front of packed grandstands at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.
Felix da Costa finished 4.2 seconds back, with Switzerland’s Sebastian Buemi third for Nissan e.dams. Reigning champion Jean-Eric Vergne was fourth for DS Techeetah.
Lotterer made a good start from Porsche’s first pole position since entering the sport this season, but lost out at first corner after brave late braking from Evans, who just made it through.
Bird – who started sixth – clawed his way up to third to after a safety car to clear Nico Muller’s bizarre head-on crash with the barrier at Turn One.
Bird then overtook Lotterer who eventually fell to sixth after Bird’s team-mate Robin Frijns also passed him.
Lotterer then hit Nyck de Vries’ Mercedes, causing damage that led to smoke pouring from the front bodywork. He was then forced to pit as flames licked around the front wheel.
The next race is the Marrakesh E-Prix in Morocco, live on BBC Two on 29 February.
Article courtesy of BBC Sport
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