Formula E: Jean-Eric Vergne wins 2019 Sanya ePrix

Jean-Eric Vergne earned his first victory of the 2018-2019 Formula E season by winning the season’s sixth race, the Sanya ePrix, at Sanya Street Circuit.

DS Techeetah’s Jean-Eric Vergne became the sixth different winner through the first six races of the 13-race 2018-2019 Formula E season by winning the season’s sixth race, the Sanya ePrix, at Sanya Street Circuit.

Vergne started the 36-lap race around the 11-turn, 1.156-mile (1.860-kilometer) Sanya Street Circuit temporary street circuit in Sanya, China in second place in his #25 Spark-DS Automobiles, and he went on to win it under caution by 1.762 seconds over Nissan e.dams’ Oliver Rowland, who started from the pole position, in second in his #22 Spark-Nissan.

BMW i Andretti Motorsport’s Antonio Felix da Costa rounded out the podium positions by finishing in third place in his #28 Spark-BMW. DS Techeetah’s Andre Lotterer and Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler’s Daniel Abt rounded out the top five by finishing in fourth and fifth in their #36 Spark-DS Automobiles and #66 Spark-Audi, respectively.

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Nissan e.dam’s Sebastien Buemi, Mahindra Racing teammates Jerome d’Ambrosio and rookie Pascal Wehrlein, Panasonic Jaguar Racing’s Mitch Evans and Venturi’s Edoardo Mortara rounded out top 10 by finishing in sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth and 10th place in their #23 Spark-Nissan, #64 Spark-Mahindra, #94 Spark-Mahindra, #20 Spark-Jaguar and #48 Spark-Venturi, respectively.

Vergne, however, is still under investigation for a potential violation of safety car procedure toward the end of the safety car period that took place toward the end of the race, marking the second consecutive race that resulted in the original race winner being under investigation.

Envision Virgin Racing’s Sam Bird originally won the season’s fifth race, the Hong Kong ePrix, before a post-race investigation resulted in him being issued a five-second time penalty that relegated him to a sixth place finish and made Mortara the race winner.

Several other drivers are still under investigation following the conclusion of the Sanya ePrix, which featured only one lead change. Vergne passed Rowland and went on to lead the race’s final 18 laps after Rowland led the its first 18 laps. Of the 22 drivers who started the race, 14 finished it. Of the 14 drivers who finished the race, 13 finished it on the lead lap.

Here are the full race results of the 2019 Sanya ePrix at Sanya Street Circuit, subject to change as a result of post-race investigations, which are becoming quite common in Formula E.

Race Results
1st – Jean-Eric Vergne
2nd – Oliver Rowland
3rd – Antonio Felix da Costa
4th – Andre Lotterer
5th – Daniel Abt
6th – Sebastien Buemi
7th – Jerome d’Ambrosio
8th – Pascal Wehrlein
9th – Mitch Evans
10th – Edoardo Mortara
11th – Felipe Massa
12th – Oliver Turvey
13th – Tom Dillmann
14th – Robin Frijns
15th – Lucas di Grassi
16th – Nelson Piquet Jr.
17th – Alexander Sims
18th – Gary Paffett
19th – Jose Maria Lopez
20th – Stoffel Vandoorne
21st – Sam Bird
22nd – Felipe Nasr

The next race on the 2018-2019 Formula E schedule is the Rome ePrix, which is the seventh of 13 races on this season’s schedule. This race, which is set to take place at Circuito Cittadino dell’EUR in Rome, Italy, is scheduled to take place on Saturday, April 13, so be sure not to miss it.