Da Costa is Formula E’s fifth different winner in five races

Tuesday, 3 March 2020 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

REUTERS: DS Techeetah’s Antonio Felix da Costa won the Marrakesh ePrix from pole position on Saturday to take the championship lead and become Formula E’s fifth different winner in five races.

DS Techeetah celebrated a podium double with reigning champion Jean-Eric Vergne third after starting 11th and with BMWi Andretti’s Max Guenther snatching second place on the last lap.

Portuguese driver Da Costa now has 67 points in the championship and is 11 clear of previous leader Mitch Evans.

Evans had started at the back of the grid after a qualifying nightmare due to a Jaguar team miscalculation that meant he failed to set a time, but the New Zealander fought back to sixth at the finish.

“We had a plan well studied and it worked out. We’re back, let’s go,” Da Costa said over the team radio after securing the victory by 11.4 seconds, his first with DS Techeetah.

Guenther had taken the lead with 19 minutes to go but da Costa took it back after going through the Attack mode activation zone and getting a power boost.

Vergne and Guenther also had a thrilling battle, with the DS Techeetah pair running one-two before the Frenchman ran low on energy and had to cede second to the German.

“Towards the end it became quite exciting with JEV (Vergne) when he passed me, in his last seconds of Attack mode, but we knew we could manage it with the energy,” said Guenther.

“To make the move with two corners to go for P2 is for sure a very nice feeling.”