Lucas di Grassi wins 2nd race in SABIC London E-Prix double-header weekend

LONDON: Lucas di Grassi took his maiden win for ROKiT Venturi Racing in the SABIC London E-Prix Round 14, overcoming Round 13 winner Jake Dennis of Avalanche Andretti in a hard-fought 38-lap battle on the 2.14-kilometer street circuit at ExCeL London.

Di Grassi emerged from the last of three mandatory Attack Mode activations with enough in hand to ensure he would overtake in-form Dennis when the Brit jumped for his last 30-kilowatt boost.

Home-crowd favorite Dennis had followed up Saturday’s win with a start from Julius Baer Pole Position, but the Brazilian stretched his advantage over the final few laps to take the chequered flag.

Di Grassi said: “(Winning) means everything. Thank you everybody for being here. Congratulations to all my competitors, all the great drivers out there.

“It was a massive fight with Jake. It was very strategic – using Attack Mode at the right moment, saving energy at the right moment. The team gave me the perfect feedback. The car was amazing today and after what happened yesterday, I think we deserve it very much,” he added.

Nyck de Vries came home third, while his Mercedes-EQ teammate – Drivers’ Championship leader Stoffel Vandoorne – finished fourth having started 13th on the grid. His closest title rival Mitch Evans of Jaguar TCS Racing had made his way to as high as fourth from 14th at the start of the race, but a late technical problem prematurely ended his London race and dealt a hammer blow to his title chances with retirement from proceedings and a non-score.

Edoardo Mortara, Di Grassi’s team-mate at ROKiT Venturi Racing, did his utmost to claim points from 17th on the grid but a scrappy, combative performance could only yield 13th position. Jean-Eric Vergne of DS Techeetah