Sam Bird held off Sebastien Buemi to claim his first victory of the 2015/2016 season at the Buenos Aires ePrix in Argentina.
The British driver lined up on pole position for DS Virgin Racing and held a steady lead early on, before his advantage was cut by a Safety Car just over the half-way stage.
Sebastien Buemi charged up the order after starting from last place on the grid, following a mistake in qualifying. He gained further ground in the pit stop phase, moving up to fourth, and then passed Stephane Sarrazin and Lucas di Grassi in quick succession to move up to second place.
The final few laps saw Bird and Buemi go head-to-head for the race victory. The Virgin car was struggling on the brakes and his rival attempted to find a way through several times. Both were pushing to the limit but there was no way through for the Renault e.Dams machine.
Bird exited the final corner and crossed the line to claim his third Formula E win and first of the all-electric championship’s second season. Buemi followed him home seven tenths down after losing ground on the last tour of the Buenos Aires street track.
Di Grassi dropped back in the closing stages but claimed another podium with third. Sarrazin was fourth, with Nico Prost in fifth. The Frenchman started second but dropped behind Antonio Felix da Costa prior to the pit stops. A slow trip to the pits saw him lose several places and a spin at Turn 4 cost him further ground.
Loic Duval, the returning Nick Heidfeld, Robin Frijns, Oliver Turvey and Bruno Senna completed the top 10. Jean-Eric Vergne, who was ill earlier in the day and missed both practice sessions, was 11th. Nelson Piquet Jr lost places early on and struggled to claw back ground, finishing 12th, ahead of Daniel Abt and Simona de Silvestro.
Mike Conway made his Formula E debut but while running in the top 10 he spun and dropped to 15th. Jerome d’Ambrosio suffered contact on lap one and failed to make up many positions. Da Costa and Salvador Duran were the two drivers who failed to finish.
