Evans wins inaugural Jakarta e-Prix, Vandoorne stays top

JAKARTA : Mitch Evans won the inaugural Jakarta e-Prix for Jaguar on Saturday with Mercedes driver Stoffel Vandoorne retaining his overall championship lead in the all-electric Formula E series.

The victory was a third of the season for New Zealander Evans of Jaguar TCS Racing, who finished ahead of DS Techeetah's pole-sitter Jean-Eric Vergne and Venturi's Edoardo Mortara.

Vandoorne, fifth, now has a five point lead over Frenchman Vergne with Swiss racer Mortara two more points behind and Evans 12 adrift of the Belgian in a tight battle at the top with seven races remaining.

Temperature management was a big factor in the Indonesian heat as Jakarta made its debut as one of two new venues this season.

"That was a hot, hard race," said Evans, who started in third place and overtook Vergne for the lead in the final minutes at the Ancol Beach Resort track. "I was just happy to be in it at the end.

"We needed a good result today...it was a new track, new climate, new everything and you don't really know how it is going to go."

Vergne finished 0.733 of a second behind Evans with Mortara a further 0.967 adrift.

Mercedes lead the teams' championship with 186 points, 16 ahead of DS Techeetah.

Round 10 of the championship will be in the Moroccan city of Marrakesh on July 2.