A look back at the Long Beach ePrix: Lucas di Grassi makes a comeback, Renault e.Dams has a disastrous weekend!

Long Beach: An American Tradition of Urban Racing.

Half an hour south of Los Angeles, the California beach city was the setting for the sixth ePrix of the 2015-2016 season. A legendary circuit, Long Beach has been hosting car races for over forty years. Formula 1 has been held there eight times between 1976 and 1983. Now, it’s IndyCar that races there every year: the next round will take place in two weeks.

The layout used by Formula E is, however, quite specific to the requirements of the discipline. Comprising (only!) seven turns and 2.1 kilometers long, the circuit is very wide in certain areas before drastically narrowing in others. The shortest circuit of the season, Long Beach is nevertheless a high-speed race with a large straight, also used by Indycar cars, and rapid turns. The main challenge remains navigating the final 180-degree chicane, which sets the tone for the next lap and can facilitate overtaking. For Nelson Piquet, “It’s a very difficult part to master because you’re both braking and turning. If you don’t have the right trajectory, you can easily find yourself vulnerable to an overtaking maneuver.”

Winner here last year, the Brazilian driver takes us on board his single-seater to present this Long Beach ePrix in images.

The Qualifications: Antonio Félix da Costa, dethroned poleman.

Surprise at the start of the day during Qualifications: Antonio Félix da Costa secured Pole Position, the first of his Formula E career! Already a winner of the Buenos Aires ePrix in 2015, the Portuguese driver reminded everyone of his talent by clocking the fastest time in the Super-Pole. Sam Bird, the fastest of all during the groups, was unable to repeat his performance due to a small mistake in the first corner.

However, the DS Virgin driver did not suspect that his second position would turn into a Pole, as the stewards detected tire pressure that was too low on Da Costa’s car, resulting in him starting from the last position!

Consequently, Sam Bird started in the lead, ahead of Lucas di Grassi, one of the strong contenders in this Championship, and… Stéphane Sarrazin! The experienced Frenchman created a minor sensation by bringing his Venturi to the third place.

On the other hand, very disappointing qualifications for Sébastien Buemi. With the eighth fastest time, it is quite rare not to see him reach the Super-Pole. Similarly, Nico Prost did not perform a fantastic lap either, finishing 9th, just behind his teammate.

Equally difficult session for the Dragon Racing drivers. Jérôme d’Ambrosio could do no better than 10th, while Loic Duval only started 18th. Last year’s winner here, Nelson Piquet Jr only secured the 15th best time and even received a 10-place penalty for a change of electric motor.

The race: Lucas di Grassi takes his revenge!

A few hours later, it was time to move on to the race. 41 laps were on the agenda. This time, nothing hindered the progress of the ABT team driver, who won this Long Beach ePrix! Starting second, Di Grassi immediately got into Sam Bird’s rearview mirrors. The English driver held his ground for 11 laps before giving up the lead to the Brazilian at the end of a maneuver executed at the end of the long straight of the circuit.

Once in the lead, Di Grassi perfectly controlled the race, as is his habit in the discipline. He wasn’t even worried even when the pack regrouped on lap 34 following Nelson Piquet Jr’s crash, who took off on the curb of the first chicane. A chaotic season for the Defending Champion, who had won here just last year. After a perfect restart, Di Grassi soared in the remaining three laps to his second victory of the season, the third if you count the disqualification in Mexico.

With this success, Di Grassi even takes the lead in the Drivers’ Standings. He benefited from Sébastien Buemi’s setbacks, who was too daring at the braking of the last chicane on the 11th lap. While battling with Robin Frijns for the fourth place, he took off over the rear wing of the Dutchman’s car. The race was catastrophic for the Swiss, who had to change his e.Dams prematurely and retired three laps from the end, with the battery drained. He even received a penalty for the responsibility of the collision!

Lucas di Grassi had every reason to be delighted when speaking to the journalists: “It was really a great race, I’m very happy, especially after what happened in Mexico! It shows that if you stay focused and diligent, results come!”

But he didn’t forget to mention the difficulty of this ePrix: “It was an extremely tricky race, it’s very easy to make mistakes on this track. Stéphane (Sarrazin) was fast, he really put pressure on me at the end of the race. It was really hard to drive the car to the limit here, you had to stay focused at all costs!”

Indeed, Stéphane Sarrazin achieved a brilliant second place for Venturi. For a change, the Monegasque team found success this time: starting 3rd, Sarrazin maintained a steady race up to the checkered flag. “It’s really crazy to see that despite our speed, we never managed to get on the podium!” he admitted. “It was a very good race for me, we really improved. The team started from scratch with this car so I am very satisfied with this result.”

To complete this unprecedented podium, the third man was Daniel Abt. Generally overshadowed by Di Grassi, the German driver finally realized the good potential of his car to secure this place, which means a double podium for Team Abt, the first in the history of the team supported by Audi.

I was convinced that we were going to achieve a good result here. Although I set the best time in FP2, it didn’t work out for me in Qualifying. I tried to stay calm during the race while others were making a lot of mistakes around me. This double podium is excellent for the whole team.

Great overall performance as well for Mahindra with the fourth and fifth places of Nick Heidfeld and Bruno Senna, the best score ever achieved by the Indian team. Both drivers finished ahead of the unfortunate Sam Bird, who, after giving up the lead of the race to di Grassi, made a big mistake on the 24th lap by hitting a tire wall. Fortunately, he was able to engage reverse gear and set off again a few seconds later, though he dropped down to 7th place in the standings.

A good sport, Sam Bird congratulated di Grassi via a tweet. A great gesture of sportsmanship that we wish to see more often.

To complete this Top 10, the two Dragon Racing cars of Jérôme d’Ambrosio and Loic Duval finished seventh and eighth respectively, ahead of the Swiss driver Simona de Silvestro, who scored the first two points of her Formula E career. Mike Conway also collected his very first point with his 10th place for Venturi.

Here is the complete ranking of this Long Beach ePrix: