Source: BMW Group Media

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Jerome d'Ambrosio wins dramatic E-Prix after BMW drama

Jerome d'Ambrosio wins dramatic E-Prix after BMW drama

12-01-2019 16:20
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Jake Williams-Smith

Former Marussia driver Jerome d'Ambrosio put in a stellar drive to take race victory in Marrakesh. The Belgian drove through the field from tenth on the grid to take his third ever win in Formula E.

The race was filled with action from the outset with championship leader Jean-Eric Vergne attempting a pass at the first corner on Sam Bird, resulting in a spin for the Frenchman and a long afternoon ahead of him.

Pascal Werhlein's debut in the series was short-lived, the German forced out on the opening lap after Lucas di Grassi hit the Mahindra driver into turn one.

Pole-sitter Bird led in the initial stages until the surging  BMW i Andretti Motorsport pair of Antonio Felix da Costa and Alexander Sims soon latched onto the back of the leader.

In the space of two corners, Bird was relegated to third and a BMW Andretti one-two looked set to run off into the distance but the drama was far from over.

Running away from the rest of the field, the leading pair imploded with just a handful of laps to go. Second-placed Sims attempted a move on his teammate that resulted in contact between the two teammates and put race leader da Costa into the barriers and out of the race.

The subsequent safety car was withdrawn with just one lap remaining meaning it was a one-lap shootout to take the race victory. Despite huge pressure from behind, d'Ambrosio held on to his lead and took the win by just 0.143s.

Having taken victory in the second race of the season, the result puts d'Ambrosio at the summit of the drivers' standings after da Costa's and Vergne's misfortunes.