London ePrix – Race 2: Victory on a Green Carpet for Sam Bird, Title for Nelson Piquet Junior

After a stormy Qualifying session marked by rain, the 20 drivers meet for the very last ePrix of the season.

The tension is at its peak: none of the three Title contenders are in Pole Position, it’s Stéphane Sarrazin (Venturi) who has made the most of the track. At the start, Sébastien Buemi (e.Dams-Renault) is the World Champion. He starts from 6th place. Lucas di Grassi (Audi Sport Abt, 11th) and especially Nelson Piquet Junior (NEXTEV TCR, 16th) will have to overtake on the track or take advantage of the car change to gain positions.

Under close observation, the sky is slightly cloudy with no rain at the time of departure, much to the chagrin of Nelson Piquet. Unlike Race 1, the start is stopped this time.

At 5 p.m., the five red lights go out, the start is given!

Bad start for Jérôme d’Ambrosio who slips. He was overtaken by his teammate Loic Duval. Buemi gains a position, he is 5th at the end of the first lap. Di Grassi is 9th, Nelson Piquet Junior has already gained four positions, he is now 12th.

At the end of the 1st round, the Top 10 is as follows: Stéphane Sarrazin leads ahead of Duval, D’Ambrosio, Bird, Buemi, Senna, Heidfeld, Duran, Di Grassi, Vergne.

The pack is very tight in the Top 10. Nelson Piquet Junior, on the other hand, is quite a bit behind: he is 5 seconds behind his teammate Oliver Turvey, who is ahead of him in the standings. The Brazilian started cautiously: he seems to be conserving his battery to delay his pit stop.

Spectacular images punctuate the first laps: in the 6th Lap, a clash between Simona de Silvestro and Fabio Leimer, who loses his front wing on the straight. In the 8th Lap, Sakon Yamamoto misses his braking and hits the rear of Jarno Trulli’s car. He damages his suspension but nevertheless tries to return to the pits. A turbulent weekend for the Japanese driver making his debut in the discipline.

At the 10th Lap, the Top 10 is as follows: Sarrazin is still leading ahead of Duval, D’Ambrosio, Bird, Buemi, Senna, Duran, di Grassi, Vergne, Turvey. Piquet Junior is still trailing in 11th position.

Opposite fates at Venturi: while Sarrazin leads, Nick Heidfeld is pushed into the pit lane by the stewards. The German was unable to defend his chances today.

First single-seater changes on the 15th lap: the drivers jump from their cars. Bad operation for Stéphane Sarrazin, who lost two seconds during his car change. Nelson Piquet Junior, with his offbeat strategy, temporarily takes the lead. Exceptionally quick stop from Sam Bird, the Englishman moves up to third position.

Drama at the 16th lap, Sébastien Buemi goes into a spin! The Swiss driver doesn’t know it yet, but this mistake will cost him the Title! He loses a place to Bruno Senna and is now under pressure from one of his direct rivals, Lucas di Grassi. At the same time, Nelson Piquet Junior comes back out but doesn’t gain any positions. He finds himself under pressure from the other e.Dams-Renault, Nico Prost.

At the 20th Lap, the race standings are as follows: Sarrazin maintains the lead ahead of Duval and Bird. D’Ambrosio, Senna, Buemi, di Grassi, Duran, Turvey, and Piquet Junior are in the Top 10.

In the provisional Drivers’ Championship standings, Sébastien Buemi has only a 3-point lead over Nelson Piquet! Everything is still possible, knowing that the two points for the fastest lap are still at stake. Moreover, Nelson Piquet Junior has his own teammate, Oliver Turvey, ahead of him, who could slow down at any moment to let him pass. The Englishman is really doing the necessary work by taking the provisional fastest lap.

The pressure rises another notch with Fabio Leimer’s accident, who misses his braking point: he goes straight into the tire wall. The safety car is deployed: the radios are buzzing, especially among the title contenders!

This Safety-Car exits at the start of the 22nd lap, Buemi then announces on his radio that he wants to attack Bruno Senna. All drivers are once again wheel to wheel. In front, Sam Bird is on fire and takes 2nd place from Loic Duval. A double blow for the Frenchman who is also overtaken by d’Ambrosio.

As expected, Nelson Piquet Junior passes Oliver Turvey who shows no resistance: the Brazilian continues his momentum and overtakes Salvador Duran! Astonishing behavior from the Amlin-Aguri driver, who didn’t seem to defend his position… This overtaking is crucial: Nelson Piquet Junior is virtually the World Champion at the expense of Sébastien Buemi.

From now on, Buemi has no choice: he must overtake at least one driver in front of him to reclaim the crown. On the 25th lap, he uses his Fan-Boost to pass Senna: without success.

Suspense at all levels for these final laps: at the front, Sarrazin is under pressure from Sam Bird! A Franco-English duel looms for the victory. The French veteran withstands the challenge from the local: he crosses the finish line as the winner. But Stéphane Sarrazin is penalized a few moments later by the officials: 40 seconds are added to his final time for excessive electric energy consumption.

Therefore, Sam Bird is the winner of the second London ePrix! The English driver would certainly have preferred to win on the track, but he will surely settle for this victory on his home soil. He nevertheless made a double by also achieving the fastest lap in the race.

For the Title, Sébastien Buemi tried everything to pass Bruno Senna. The last lap was very spectacular: the Swiss did not hesitate to push the Brazilian to force him into a mistake. But this bold attempt was not successful: with this ranking, Nelson Piquet Junior is crowned Drivers’ Champion of the 2014-2015 Formula E season!

The son of Nelson Piquet will remain in Formula E history by winning the first Drivers’ Title of the discipline. e-Dams Renault completes the honor roll with the Constructors’ title secured yesterday afternoon at the end of Race 1.

Here is the complete ranking of this Race 2:

1. S.Bird (Virgin Racing): 29 Laps

2. J. d’Ambrosio (Dragon Racing): +6.973

3. L.Duval (Dragon Racing): +9.430

4. B.Senna (Mahindra) +10.147

5. S.Buemi (e.Dams-Renault) +10.689

6. L.di Grassi (Audi-Sport ABT) +11.204

7. N.Piquet (NEXTEV TCR) +11.561

8. S.Duran (Amlin Aguri) +12.402

9. O.Turvey (NEXTEV TCR) +14.142

10. N.Prost (e.Dams-Renault) +14.535

11. D.Abt (Audi Sport ABT) +23.170

12. S. de Silvestro (Andretti) +24.610

13. K.Chandhok (Mahindra) +31.501

14. A.Fontana (Trulli) +35.423

15. S.Sarrazin (Venturi) +49.680

16. J.Vergne (Andretti) +1 Lap

Retirements: N.Heidfeld (Venturi)

F.Leimer (Virgin)

J.Trulli (Trulli)

S.Yamamoto (Amlin Aguri)