Vergne scores Santiago Formula E victory, Techeetah 1-2

Jean-Eric Vergne swept to his second Formula E victory in Saturday's Santiago E-Prix, heading up a one-two finish for Techeetah as Andre Lotterer followed home in P2.

Following his breakthrough win at the Season 3 finale in Montreal, Vergne converted pole position in Chile into his second win in the series, only losing the lead briefly through the pit stop cycle when cars stayed out for an extra lap.

Vergne held his lead off the start to lead from Jaguar's Nelson Piquet Jr., and was able to pull out a two-second lead over the Brazilian through the opening stint of the race as Lotterer put pressure on for P2.

Lotterer got the jump on Piquet after the car swaps and trailed Vergne by four seconds, only to pull close when a yellow flag was thrown, allowing him to attempt a pass for the lead at Turn 1.

Vergne defended from his teammate confidently, sparking tension on the Techeetah pit wall as its two drivers diced for position and made contact while on the main straight.

The Techeetahs sparring allowed the likes of Sebastien Buemi and the recovering Felix Rosenqvist, who qualified 14th, to close in the fight for the lead, setting up a grandstand finish.

Despite one final attempt by Lotterer around the outside at Turn 2 on the final lap, Vergne was able to hold on and secure his second Formula E victory, leading his teammate across the line with Buemi completing the podium in P3.

Rosenqvist's recovery ended with him taking P4 ahead of Bird, while Piquet dropped to sixth at the chequered flag, one position ahead of Jaguar teammate Mitch Evans.

Jerome d'Ambrosio led Dragon's charge taking P8 as teammate Jose Maria Lopez crashed out on the opening lap, with Antonio Felix da Costa and Nicolas Prost completing the points-paying positions.

Tom Blomqvist failed to follow up his debut points charge in Marrakesh with a further score, crossing the line 11th ahead of Luca Filippi, Edoardo Mortara and Oliver Turvey who were the last classified finishers.

Audi had another disastrous day as both Lucas di Grassi and Daniel Abt were sidelined by in-race issues, leaving the duo without points for the third straight race and the team with just one to its name. Alex Lynn, Nick Heidfeld and Maro Engel also failed to finish following various incidents through the race.