PARIS – Envision Virgin Racing’s Robin Frijns becomes the eighth different winner in as many Formula E races this year during Saturday’s Paris ePrix.
Starting behind the BMW i8 Safety Car due to the damp conditions, polesitter Oliver Rowland crashed out in the opening minutes, handing his teammate Sebastien Buemi the lead.
With Buemi leading, the Swiss driver was shadowed by Frijns and Venturi’s Felipe Massa in third. With Attack Mode activated, Frijns lunged for the lead before Buemi also activated his Attack Mode. With both cars running with the additional 25kW of power, the drivers jostled for the top spot with Felipe Massa keeping his distance in third.
Heading into turn eight, Buemi slowed, handing Frijns the lead before heading into the pits with a technical issue. Now in the lead, Frijns led up the pack with DS Techeetah’s Andre Lotterer in second and Massa in third. With rain fast approaching, the track conditions worsened, causing traction issues for all 22 drivers. After Frijns made contact with former race leader Buemi, the Dutchman’s front splitter appeared to be coming loose.
More rain and hail led to the caution flag being displayed, with the cars and drivers temporarily keeping their speed to 50kmh. By the time the racing got underway again, there were 23 minutes left on the clock.
Further down the pack, Envision’s Sam Bird over shot turn three before Rowland took BMW i Andretti Motorsport’s Alex Sims out of the race, causing another caution period.
With Frijns, Lotterer and Daniel Abt all striving to keep their place on the podium, Venturi’s Edoardo Mortara collided with Panasonic jaguar Racing’s Alex Lynn on turn 13 before they came to a halt in the wall. While the cars were recovered during the ensuing caution period, only 17 cars and drivers remained on track with only a few minutes of the race remaining.
Once the safety car returned to the pit lane after Lynn and Mortara’s car’s were recovered, Frijns had less than two minutes left to maintain the lead over Lotterer. Moments later, Mahindra’s Jerome d’Ambrosio hit the wall on turn three. While d’Ambrosio’s car was recovered, Frijns took the checkered flag followed by Lotterer and Abt in second and third.
“That was one of the toughest races of my career but a great result,” said Frijns. “We were driving in very tricky, slippery conditions and being the lead car, you never know what to expect. I felt I was quicker than [Sebastien] Buemi and managed to get the move early on but after that it was really tough. It’s a great result for the team too and also to do it on King’s Day.”