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<strong>Marrakesh ePrix</strong>: Da Costa takes victory as Guenther denies Techeetah 1-2

Marrakesh ePrix: Da Costa takes victory as Guenther denies Techeetah 1-2

Published on 29 Feb 2020 15:58
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By: Coilin Higgins

It was the Techeetah of Antonio Felix Da Costa that took victory this afternoon, ahead of second-placed Max Guenther and Jean-Eric Vergne, who took the final podium position in third position.

Antonio Felix Da Costa managed to hold the lead at the start after a good getaway from the line, while James Calado managed to find a way around reigning champion Vergne on the first lap, Vergne took back eighth place on the second lap.

Guenther managed to keep with Da Costa after the Portuguese driver broke away from the pack early. Porsche's Andre Lotterer was put under investigation for cutting the chicane at turn five on the first lap.

Lotterer was cleared after his first lap corner cut, but Nyck de Vries was given a drive-through penalty for having too much power on his battery regeneration and opted to take the penalty straight away.

Mahindra's Jerome D'Ambrosio became the first driver to activate attack mode in the race, as Calado followed suit on the following lap. Audi's Lucas DiGrassi soon worked his way into the points, taking tenth away from Alex Sims in the BMW.

Fourth and fifth went to Sebastien Buemi and Edoardo Mortara, while Mitch Evans and DiGrassi took the chequered flag in sixth and seventh.

Vergne was on the move from starting eleventh, working his way up to sixth after finding a way past Oliver Rowland. After activating attack mode, Vergne continued his charge up the field, moving up to third past Buemi, Mortara and former teammate Lotterer.

D'Ambrosio and Calado made contact through turn three, while DiGrassi behind managed to take both positions in the chaos for ninth, as upfront Gunther found himself in the lead after passing Da Costa around the outside of turn one.

Da Costa retook the lead from Guenther with less than twenty minutes to go, as Mitch Evans moved up to twelfth after starting in last place, while Pascal Wehrlein was forced to pit after suffering a puncture.

Vergne got past Lotterer for third, as Guenther chased back after Da Costa, Mortara managed to take fifth place from Buemi, despite suffering from slight wing damage after contact on the first lap of the race.

Mortara and Lotterer banged wheels as Lotterer barged his way into fourth place, as Vergne closed in on Guenther's second position, finding his way past at turn one into second place.

Contact was narrowly avoided at turn one when Guenther challenged Vergne for second position, but harsh defending from Vergne forced a lock-up from Guenther.

The pair banged wheels coming through turn one as Guenther challenged Vergne once again. Vergne eventually surrendered second after losing energy in the final sector.

Eighth and ninth went to Lotterer and Rowland, while Sam Bird picked up the final point in tenth.

FE News