Sebastien Buemi sealed his second victory of the 2015-16 Formula E season taking the checkered flag at the Punta del Este ePrix in Uruguay on Saturday.
Thousands of motorsport fans flocked to the picturesque beach-side street circuit to watch practice, qualifying, and the race contested by nine teams each with two drivers piloting electric-powered cars.
Saturday’s ePrix was the third of 11 scheduled to take place this season, with the teams battling it out in countries all over the world including China, the United States, Germany, Mexico and Russia.
In his Renault e.dams car, Buemi quickly moved to the front of the field after qualifying in fifth place for the 33-lap race around the 2.80 km (1.75 m) circuit.
The Swiss was chased all the way by Brazil’s Lucas di Grassi who drove his ABT Schaeffler car to victory in the previous round in Malaysia.
Di Grassi hasn’t finished lower than second this season and currently trails Buemi in the Drivers’ Championship by a single point after the Swiss’ fine drive.
The team from America’s Dragon Racing also had a satisfying afternoon. Jerome D’Ambrosio took his first-ever Formula E pole, converting it to third place in the race while his teammate Loic Duval was fourth.
Buemi’s teammate, Nicolas Prost — son of team boss and four-time Formula One world champion, Alain — took fifth place, meaning the French team move ahead of Germany’s ABT Schaeffler in the Constructors’ Championship.
Another Formula One world champion, Jacques Villeneuve, who is driving for the Venturi team this season, had to pull out of Saturday’s race after crashing in qualifying.
The Canadian who won motorsport’s most prestigious title in 1997, was unhurt in the crash, but his mechanics were unable to repair the chassis in time for the race.
Former F1 racer and last year’s inaugural Formula E champion, Nelson Piquet Jr dramatically crashed at turn 15 on the penultimate lap of the race as he battled to hold off DS Virgin Racing’s Jean-Eric Vergne.
The Frenchman finished eighth while the Brazilian driver who races for China’s NEXTEV team was unable to continue.
Simona de Silvestro — the only female driver in the series — registered her best result of the season to date, finishing 11th for the Andretti team from the U.S.
Round four of the 2015-16 Formula E season will take place in Buenos Aires next February.
FORMULA E FAST FACTS
Formula E uses single-seater cars powered by 200 kilowatt batteries.
Practice, qualifying and the ePrix all take place on Saturday. The race, which lasts approximately 50 minutes, always starts at 4 p.m. local time.
There are no tire changes in Formula E, but drivers have to pit to swap for a second car. Teams are not allowed to charge their electric cars during the race.
There are nine teams and 18 drivers in the 2015-2016 championship, following the withdrawal of the Trulli team, and 10 city-center races.
