NEW YORK CITY – Sam Bird followed up his win in the inaugural FIA Formula E Qualcomm New York City ePrix with an emphatic victory in the second race of the doubleheader event on Sunday on the Brooklyn Circuit.
The DS Virgin Racing star produced a faultless lap to record his first pole of the season, but he was beaten off the line by the Mahindra entry driven by Felix Rosenqvist, who held the lead in the opening stages of the race.
Bird treated the fans who packed the grandstands to a masterclass in overtaking, executing a perfectly-timed move under braking for the hairpin at turn six. Once he was ahead, he simply drove away from the field. Even two yellow flag periods – one of which was brought out when his DS Virgin teammate Alex Lynn stopped on track – could deter him, and by the finish he was over 11 seconds clear.
“What a weekend, not only for myself but for the team,” said Bird. “What a car I was given this weekend – it was flying in qualifying, sensational energy management in the race – so hats off to DS Virgin Racing for giving me the best car they have ever given me. It feels incredible to win here – this was an historic weekend, not only for Formula E, but for motorsport in general. There’s never been a race in New York before and this has been a long time coming, and to be the first person to win the first and second races here is really special.”
Midway through the race Rosenqvist and his team detected an issue with the energy read-out on the car and the decision was made to allow his teammate Nick Heidfeld to pass to see if he could chase down the leader.
However, the German was unable to make any inroads into Bird’s advantage, and the positions were reversed once more. Second place for Rosenqvist means he maintains a mathematical chance of taking the title when the series concludes in Montreal in two weeks.
“I wasn’t expecting DS Virgin Racing to be as strong as they were, Sam also drove fantastically – he looked pretty on it,” said Rosenqvist. “During the second stint, we started to get a few problems with my energy calculations, so we decided to let Nick past and try to solve these issues in a slightly calmer environment. When we got our heads around it, I was able to concentrate and focus again and Nick was kind enough to let me back through for P2.”
In the closing stages Pierre Gasly found himself with more energy than the Mahindras ahead of him and started to rapidly close them down. Such was his pace that heading into the final corner of the last lap, he caught both of the red and white cars. In a frantic finale, the series debutant made contact with Heidfeld and bounced off both walls as he crossed the line a valiant fourth to cap an impressive weekend.
Gasly was racing because championship leader Sebastien Buemi was absent due to a clashing commitment. Buemi held a 32-point lead pre-weekend and the only driver who could topple him was Lucas di Grassi.
After clipping the wall in qualifying the ABT Schaeffler Audi man started the race from ninth. He worked his way up the order, pulling off some strong passes to finish fifth, which means that combined – with his result from the first race – he is now only 10 points behind Buemi with 58 still to play for in Montreal.
Source : speedsport.com
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