Rosenqvist battles past Buemi for Marrakesh Formula E victory
Felix Rosenqvist left it late to secure his second straight Formula E victory, passing Renault rival Sebastien Buemi for the lead with five laps to go en route to a win that vaulted him into the lead of the drivers' championship.
After topping the opening qualifying heats on Saturday, a mistake in Super Pole left Rosenqvist third on the grid for Mahindra behind Sam Bird and pole-sitter Buemi.
Felix Rosenqvist left it late to secure his second straight Formula E victory, passing Renault rival Sebastien Buemi for the lead with five laps to go en route to a win that vaulted him into the lead of the drivers' championship.
After topping the opening qualifying heats on Saturday, a mistake in Super Pole left Rosenqvist third on the grid for Mahindra behind Sam Bird and pole-sitter Buemi.
Rosenqvist was able to stay with the leading duo through the early part of the race before passing Bird shortly before the car swaps, only for a slow pit stop under a Full Course Yellow to cause the Swede to drop two seconds back from Buemi at the front.
Rosenqvist was able to claw his way back into contention for victory with a series of quick laps, as well as saving more energy than Buemi in the process, allowing him to close up on the Renault as the laps ticked down.
The pass for victory came with five laps to go as Rosenqvist threw his car down the inside of Buemi's, leaving the Swiss driver unable to respond.
From there, Rosenqvist kicked on and eventually finished almost one second clear of Buemi at the chequered flag, who reported a minor issue on his car after the race that cost him time.
Bird was able to complete the podium despite fading from the lead battle in the closing stages, while Nelson Piquet Jr. took fourth for Jaguar.
Jean-Eric Vergne was able to rise from 13th on the grid to P5 at the chequered flag after an incident-filled race for the midfield runners, with a number of drivers getting caught up in incidents.
Defending Formula E champion Lucas di Grassi remains point-less after three races in Season Four, having stopped on-track while running fourth in the early stint. Audi teammate Daniel Abt's hopes of points were dashed after a drive-through penalty for causing a collision with Alex Lynn, leaving him 11th overall at the chequered flag.
Jose Maria Lopez was able to grab points for P6 on his return to the series, marking Dragon's first score of the season, while teammate Jerome d'Ambrosio struggled to 15th.
Maro Engel crossed the line seventh for Venturi, but dropped to P13 in the final classification after receiving a time penalty for causing a collision. This promoted Nick Heidfeld into seventh ahead of Tom Blomqvist, who grabbed points on his Formula E debut for Andreti in eighth. Nicolas Prost was ninth for Renault e.dams, while Alex Lynn took the final point on offer for P10.
Mitch Evans pitted early and was caught out by the Full Course Yellow, leaving him 12th ahead of Antonio Felix da Costa. Edoardo Mortara had been set for points, only for a late incident with Engel and Heidfeld to force him to retire with three laps to go.
Oliver Turvey was forced to retire from the race after his first stint following an issue on the grid with his planned starting car, forcing him to switch to his second chassis for the start.
