BERLIN, Germany – Lucas di Grassi fired himself into the Formula E championship mix with a stunning victory Saturday’s opening race of the BMW i Berlin E-Prix presented by CBMM Niobium doubleheader.
Di Grassi started on the second row behind the DS TECHEETAH duo of Antonio Felix da Costa and Jean-Eric Vergne, who led for two thirds of the race.
The DS drivers then lost out to the charging Audi duo, led by di Grassi, with teammate Rene Rast flying from 12th to second.
After the Audis hit the front, ROKiT Venturi Racing’s Edoardo Mortara and Norman Nato then jumped the pair through their Attack Mode boost. Da Costa slipped to an eventual sixth and Vergne seventh, while Rast’s charge wouldn’t last as he fell to ninth.
Di Grassi was late to take his Attack Mode activation and the wily racer made it count. He passed Nato, then Mortara in the closing stages and held off the latter over the line for the race win with Evans steering to an impressive third from seventh on the grid ahead of Nato in fourth and Jake Dennis in fifth.
“To win the race here means a lot to me and Audi, I’m super happy,” said di Grassi, who jumped to sixth in points with the win. “Everything is fully open going into tomorrow’s race, we’re going to try as hard as possible to win both races and I’m sure if we win tomorrow, we will be there to win the championship.”
Championship leader Nyck de Vries failed to finish, but he still holds his advantage atop the series standings by three points ahead of Mortara.Â
More than half the grid can still win the title, while the top seven in the series standings, down to reigning champion da Costa, split by nine points. The championship battle will be settled Sunday in Berlin.