BUEMI WINS IN PUNTA DEL ESTE e.dams-Renault driver secures maiden victory in front of sell-out crowd FIA, F1, Formule 1, motorsport

BUEMI WINS IN PUNTA DEL ESTE e.dams-Renault driver secures maiden victory in front of sell-out crowd

FIA Formula E | 14.12.14 | Aktuálně formule E

FIA Formula E

PUNTA DEL ESTE, URUGUAY (December 13 2014) - Sebastien Buemi clinched e.dams-Renault'sfirst win of the season in the 2014 Formula E Julius Baer Punta del Este ePrix with Nelson PiquetJr. and championship leader Lucas di Grassi completing the podium places.The Swiss driver fended off Jean-Eric Vergne in the final stages of the race as the Andretti driverpulled over to the side of the track on the penultimate lap.

Buemi said: "I knew he was going to use his FanBoost, clearly we took it a little bit too safe in thelast few laps when he started to catch me because I was still trying to save energy. It's a bit sillyright now but that is what it is. Then at the restart I locked the rear wheels twice in the chicaneso it was a bit on the edge. I knew he was going to be fast but I don't know what happened to himin the end. I'm really happy with today's result."Piquet jumped Vergne off the start line to lead into Turn 1 but dropped back as the Andretti driverdeployed his FanBoost to re-take the position.

He said: "It was a great start, immediate reaction and the car handled very well. On the first lap Iattacked the chicane a little bit too hard trying to build a gap and I think I damaged my frontsuspension. After that it was just trying to maintain really - that's why we were so slow andholding up everybody. I was locking up going into the corners, the car was lifting a little bit - so itwas really nerve wracking for many laps until we finally got the pitstop and then the car was backto normal and that's why we had our speed at the end of the race."

Buemi's win moves the e.dams-Renault driver to second in the championship equal on points withVirgin Racing's Sam Bird, who crashed out on lap three after locking up and launching over thekerbs. The two drivers are now 18 points adrift of Lucas di Grassi who picked up his third podiumin succession.

Di Grassi said: "I had a very good start - I even managed to overtake Nico Prost, who was one rowin front. But then I was squeezed by [Jaime] Alguersuari in the chicane and just managed not totouch the wall and then I'd lost the position to [Nicolas] Prost, Alguersuari and [Nick] Heidfeld. Itwas quite a bad first corner. After that I was just attacking Jaime for the whole first stint, butJaime was very aggressive on closing and making us both lose time. Then after the safety car andpitstop, I came straight back behind Nelson after the drive-through [penalties] were done and Imanaged to close the gap. We proved again that we had the pace and another podium feels good."

Jarno Trulli claimed his first points of the season with a fourth place finish ahead of Alguersuariand Mahindra Racing's Bruno Senna. The Italian driver has endured a tough start in the openingraces but believes the team is moving forwards.He said: "It's a reasonable result for us and good to get our first points for the team. I seemed tobe in the wrong place at the wrong time a lot and avoiding the accident cost me time. The teamis heading in the right direction though and the test tomorrow should help us take another stepforward."

There were mixed fortunes for the drivers making their Formula E debut with Andretti driver Jean-Eric Vergne clinching an impressive pole position and fighting for the lead of the race beforepulling over with a suspension issue. Amlin Aguri racer and FanBoost winner Salvador Duran hada quiet race in 16th position.

The race was enjoyed by a sell-out crowd in Punta del Este with 10,000 fans filling thegrandstands and many more cheering from nearby balconies. "It's definitely a good circuit, maybethe best circuit so far in terms of speed - really high speed corners, fast chicanes," said di Grassi."We have to continue in this direction with these circuits - I think more speed and longer straightshelp for a better race."

For more information on Formula E visit www.fiaformulae.com.

FIA Formula E Championship - Punta del Este ePrix (Rd 3) - Results:

1. Sebastien Buemi, e.dams-Renault, 49:08.990
2. Nelson Piquet Jr, China Racing, +0.732s
3. Lucas di Grassi, Audi Sport ABT, +2.635s
4. Jarno Trulli, Trulli, +4.163s
5. Jaime Alguersuari, Virgin Racing, +4.698s
6. Bruno Senna, Mahindra Racing, +5.197s
7. Nicolas Prost, e.dams-Renault, +6.514s
8. Jerome d'Ambrosio, Dragon Racing, +7.567s
9. Oriol Servia, Dragon Racing, +8.646s
10. Nick Heidfeld, Venturi, +10.563s
11. Antonio Garcia, China Racing, +10.594s
12. Michela Cerruti, Trulli, +19.617s
13. Karun Chandhok, Mahindra Racing, +54.175s
14. Jean-Eric Vergne, Andretti, +2 laps
15. Daniel Abt, Audi Sport ABT, +3 laps
16. Salvador Duran, Amlin Aguri, +4 laps
17. Matthew Brabham, Andretti, DNF
18. Stephane Sarrazin, Venturi, DNF
19. Antonio Felix da Costa, Amlin Aguri, DNF
20. Sam Bird, Virgin Racing, DNF