A day of carnage and survival saw Lucas di Grassi and ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport take their first win of the year and unbelievably both Renault e.Dams fail to finish in the points.
A problem on the dummy grid saw Stephane Sarrazin pushed off track, undoing all the hard work for Venturi. Their misfortune however was Team Aguri’s gain, with Antonio Felix Da Costa moving up to third and holding the position early after the start. Nick Heidfeld was turned around heading into turn one after being squeezed by Jean-Eric Vergne and Jacques Villeneuve – Vergne being the big loser and retiring from the race.
Buemi now had a 2 second gap over Loic Ducal, with Da Costa keeping a frustrated Nicolas Prost and Lucas di Grassi at bay. He would get a breather however, with Oliver Turvey going off into the barriers at turn 5 with a sticking throttle.
The field now sandwiched played into the hands of a racey Sam Bird. The Brit lining up a number of passes and looking a lot more comfortable in his DS Virgin than he was in qualifying.
At the restart, Da Costa hooked right onto the gearbox of Duval, applying pressure and forcing Loic to short-cut the chicane. The pair had used the same amount of energy and were giving no quarter. Their battle however allowed Prost to close and seize up Da Costa and make a move into third.
Prost now set about after Duval, knowing he was the only man who stood between himself and closing on team mate Buemi. The slippery surface flag emerged at turn 9 with the track beginning to break apart due to the chunks of asphalt ripped up by the high grip Michelins.
Piquet and Heidfeld were banking on going one lap longer than their opposition to make some ground up. Just as Buemi was setting a fastest middle sector and thinking f pitting, his Renault e.Dams slowed dramatically, forcing the Swiss driver into taking evasive action. He made it to the pits to switch cars, but would have to conserve like crazy to make it to the end of the race.
This promoted Duval to race leader as the rest of the field began to pit. Daniel Abt had a shocker with hydraulics failing during his stop. A terrible stop for Duval saw di Grassi pass him in the pits, while Da Costa being the big winner emerging in second place. Second, because Nelson Piquet had still yet to stop, coasting his NEXTEV TCR for another lap before eventually pitting.
Any chance for Da Costa to lead was snatched a few corners later as di Grassi scythed around the outside of the Team Aguri driver and set out after Prost, who was coasting in an effort to save energy. His cruise mode made him an easy target for Da Costa, but his pass for P2 was short-lived, his Team Aguri grinding to a halt shortly after.
Seeing that Prost was a wounded soldier, Duval took a leaf from Da Costa’s book and passed the Frenchman for 2nd a lap later only for Jerome D’Ambrosio and Robin Frijns to do the same. D’Ambrosio now had 9% more usable energy than di Grassi, setting up a dramatic final few laps.
Dramatic would be an understatement with Duval clouting the wall and slowing. The moment was a little too much for Robin Frijn who took a tighter line through a fast right hander and went wide – just clipping the wall. The final laps would be chaos, with Jerome D’Ambrosio also clouting the wall [breaking his suspension], promoting Sam Bird to 2nd and incredibly Robin Frijns, who survived to jump into 3rd for Amlin Andretti. Even more astounding was Stephane Sarrazin, finishing fourth despite starting at the back of the grid.
A bonkers result and a twist in the story with Lucas di Grassi turning the tables on Renault e.Dams to take the win and the championship lead by 8 points.
Race - Putrajaya ePrix