After securing a podium finish in the first race of the 2018-19 Formula E championship, Mahindra Racing took its first win of the season with the Marrakesh e-Prix. Mahindra's Jerome d'Ambrosio brought the win home after the BMWs of Antonio Felix da Costa and Alexander Sims crashed out in the final stages. The win puts d'Ambrosio at the top of the driver standings with 40 points, followed by Antonio Felix in second place with 28 points. Mahindra Racing is now in second position with respect to team standings with 47 points, 7 points off DS Techeetah Formula E team.
The Marrakesh e-Prix started with Sam Bird of Virgin Racing on pole followed by Jean-Eric Vergne of Techeetah starting second. Bird, however, spun on the first corner itself as Vergne attacked the pole-sitter. Sims was who was running third was promoted to second and hot on Vergne's tail until letting da Costa move up to second. The latter attacked Vergne to take the lead with Sims in the second. Da Costa and Sims started competing with each other as race neared conclusion with the BMW drivers now in 1-2 positions.
undefinedThe first rule in motorsport, don't hit your teammate! @afelixdacosta is out of the race #MarrakeshEPrix pic.twitter.com/G1c71z4hMG
— ABB Formula E (@FIAFormulaE) January 12, 2019
While the race seemed like a perfect victory for BMW, the unimaginable happened with Sims attacking da Costa. The latter slammed into the tyre wall as a result of the collision. The crash promoted d'Ambrosio in the lead, while the safety car ensured the Mahindra driver held on to the position. As the race restarted for just one lap, d'Ambrosio faced an attack from Robin Frijns and Sam Bird but managed to fend off the attack to take the team's first win.
Alexander Sims eventually recovered to finish fourth behind Frijns and Bird, while teammates Vergne and Andre Lotterer finished fifth and sixth respectively with Lotterer starting the race from 21st. Lucas di Grassi of Team Abt finished seventh followed by Renault Dams' driver Sebastien Buemi at P8.
Jaguar Racing's Mitch Evans and Daniel Abt of Team Abt took the last spots in the top 10 list. Mahindra's Pascal Wehrlein made his Formula E debut at Marrakesh but resulted in a non-finisher for the day after sustaining damage in Turn 1.
