For race winner Lucas di Grassi, who apparently won the race
at the DHL Berlin ePrix on May 23, 2015, the sweet smell of victory was short
lived. Immediately after the race and his victory, he was excluded from the DHL
Berlin ePrix after his Audi Sport ABT car was found to have been running with a
modified front wing.
According to an FIA Formula E press release, the race-winning
car failed post-race scrutineering where it was discovered that the front wing
fairings had been modified to include internal metal reinforcing rods. In
addition the stewards found that six of the eight holes in the front wing had
been sealed. The remaining two holes were found to have had helicoil inserts
and chamfers made and that the front flap and gurney LH 220 has a filler layer
added and chamfer made.
The team argued that
these changes were made as a result of repairs and that they offered no
competitive advantage, however, they were deemed to be in breach of Article 3.1
of 2014/2015 FIA Formula E Technical Regulations and the exclusion was made.
Audi Sport ABT decided not to appeal the decision.
The decision meant that Jerome D’Ambrosio became the winner
of the race and Nelson Piquet Jr is now in the lead of the championship, 10
points ahead of di Grassi. India’s Karun Chandhok could only manage an 18th
position for Mahindra Racing while his team mate Bruno Senna came in 17th.
Earlier in the race, Di Grassi took full advantage of a
mistake by poleman Jarno Trulli to slide his Audi Sport ABT entry into the lead
through Turn 3 of the opening lap. By the end of that tour he led by almost two
seconds, by the end of lap two it was 4.5s!
With Trulli’s car consuming energy at an alarming rate, the
Italian was forced to adjust his pace accordingly. This resulted in the rest of
the field queuing up behind him. Sebastien Buemi led the charge, finally using
his FanBoost – the first time the e.dams-Renault driver had won the vote – to
take second place.
This opened the flood gates as the struggling Trulli was
powerless to stop the onslaught. However, by now di Grassi was 10 seconds up
the road and already thinking about pacing himself as the car-change pitstops
approached.
FIA Formula E
Championship – DHL Berlin ePrix (Rd 8) – Race results:
1. Jerome D’Ambrosio, Dragon Racing, 48:26.566
2. Sébastien Buemi, e.dams-Renault, +2.433s
3. Loïc Duval, Dragon Racing, +3.508s
4. Nelson Piquet Jr, NEXTEV TCR, +3.975s
5. Nick Heidfeld, Venturi, +13.046s
6. Stéphane Sarrazin, Venturi, +13.335s
7. Jean-Eric Vergne, Andretti, +13.678s
8. Sam Bird, Virgin Racing, +14.055s
9. Vitantonio Liuzzi, Trulli, +15.636s
10. Nicolas Prost, e.dams-Renault, +16.602s
11. Antonio Felix da Costa, Amlin Aguri, +16.797s
12. Jaime Alguersuari, Virgin Racing, +20.594s
13. Scott Speed, Andretti, +21.149s
14. Daniel Abt, Audi Sport ABT, +23.668s
15. Charles Pic, NEXTEV TCR, +25.491s
16. Salvador Duran, Amlin Aguri, +44.137s
17. Bruno Senna, Mahindra Racing, +46.257s
18. Karun Chandhok, Mahindra Racing, +52.703s
19. Jarno Trulli, Trulli, +2 laps
EXC Lucas di Grassi, Audi Sport ABT
Driver Standings
Nelson Piquet Jr - 103
Sébastien Buemi – 101
Lucas di Grassi - 93
Nicolas Prost – 78
Jerome D’Ambrosio - 77
Sam Bird – 68
Antonio Felix da Costa – 45
Jean-Eric Vergne – 40
Jaime Alguersuari - 30
Bruno Senna - 28
Team Standings
e.dams-Renault – 179
Dragon Racing – 116
Audi Sport ABT – 115
NEXTEV TCR - 107
Virgin Racing – 98
Andretti - 88
Amlin Aguri - 48
Mahindra Racing – 46
Venturi - 34
Trulli - 17
Source: FIA Formula E