Formula E: D’Ambrosio wins the Marrakesh ePrix for Mahindra Racing

Mahindra Racing’s Jérôme D’Ambrosio took a stunning victory for Mahindra Racing in the second round of the 2018/19 ABB FIA Formula E at the Marrakesh ePrix making it the team’s second consecutive win at the Moroccan track.

For the qualifiers, Jérôme started out in group 1, following his podium finish at the third position in Saudi Arabia. With the fastest lap of 1:18:440, Jérôme secured a fifth-row starting position. Pascal Wehrlein set a lap time of 1:18:126, narrowly missing out on the super pole position in his Formula E debut qualifier lining him seventh on the grid.

D’Ambrosio smartly avoided a first corner mess to bump up to the fifth position from tenth. Passing Envision Virgin’s Sam Bird and  Robin Frijns on lap 14 and 16 respectively, Jérôme bagged the third position. Following a collision of two BMW cars, Jérôme bagged the lead position. The safety car bunched up the drivers and with only a lap to go, D’Ambrosio raced passed the checkered flag claiming the second win for Mahindra Racing.

After bagging a commendable seventh position in the debut Formula E race, Pascal Wehrlein could not complete his debut Formula E race. Just ten seconds into the race, Pascal was rear-ended by Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler’s Lucas Di Grassi who braked late in the first corner, forcing Pascal into retiring.

Happy with the team’s performance, Dilbagh Gill, team principal said, “I am absolutely thrilled with the win today. Marrakesh is definitely a special place for us and to win here two years in a row is something that I’m very proud of. The whole team did a fantastic day today and Jérôme drove a mature, brilliant race to give us this win. We had a great strategy and used Attack Mode in some clever places. Jérôme put himself in a very good position to take the advantage when it mattered. I’m very sorry for Pascal. He qualified really well and I’m sure we would have had both cars right up there had he not been hit on the first lap. While we enjoy today, we now turn our attention to Santiago and the objective of having both cars finish well.”

You can read about the first race of the season here.

The next race of the season will be Santiago E-Prix in Chile on January 26, 2019.

Here are the current standings:

1. Jérôme D’Ambrosio (Mahindra Racing)
2. António Félix da Costa (BMW i Andretti Motorsport)
3. Jean-Éric Vergne (DS Techeetah Formula E team)
4. Andre Lotterer (DS Techeetah Formula E team)
5. Robin Frijns( Envision Virgin Racing)