BMW clash hands d'Ambrosio Marrakesh Formula E victory

Jerome d'Ambrosio capitalised on a clash between BMW teammates Antonio Felix da Costa and Alexander Sims to take his third FIA Formula E victory in Marrakesh on Saturday, beating Robin Frijns.

D'Ambrosio held off a number of drivers armed with extra power in Attack Mode through the middle of the race after rising into third place, but trailed the two BMW racers by over four seconds at one stage.

Championship leader da Costa and teammate Sims headed the field from Lap 4 onwards after both passed Envision Virgin's Sam Bird, who had led the early part of the race from pole position.

With 16 minutes left in the race, Sims attempted a pass around the outside of da Costa at Turn 7, only for both drivers to make contact and lock up, causing da Costa to go straight on into the wall and retire from the race. Sims was able to rejoin the track in fourth place while the Safety Car was deployed to allow for da Costa's car to be recovered.

FIA FORMULA E MARRAKESH E-PRIX - RACE RESULTS

D'Ambrosio moved into the lead of the pack for Mahindra Racing, but had to hold on for one more lap as the race returned to green with the timer at zero, with Bird's teammate, Robin Frijns, piling on the pressure.

Despite a lock-up at the final corner and a late sniff from Frijns to make a pass, d'Ambrosio held on to take victory for Mahindra by just one-tenth of a second ahead of both Envision Virgin drivers.

It marked d'Ambrosio's first win since Mexico 2016, and is the Belgian's first scored on-track, having inherited his previous two victories as a result of disqualifications. The Mahindra driver also now leads the Formula E drivers' championship by 12 points.

Behind Frijns and Bird, Sims managed to salvage some points for BMW in fourth place, while reigning champion Jean-Eric Vergne was forced to recover to P5 for Techeetah after spinning at the first corner when trying to pass for the lead.

Andre Lotterer took sixth in the sister Techeetah ahead of Audi's Lucas di Grassi, who sustained damage at the first corner to his nose and front-left wheel rim.

Sebastien Buemi finished eighth for Nissan e.dams, having dropped from third on the grid to run outside of the top 10 when trying to dodge Vergne's car on the opening lap, with Jaguar's Mitch Evans also being forced into a similar recovery to ninth. Daniel Abt took the final point for Audi in P10.

HWA Racelab teammates Gary Paffett and Stoffel Vandoorne both retired from the race early after hitting each other on the first lap, joining da Costa on the sidelines, while Pascal Wehrlein's Formula E debut lasted just one lap after he also sustained damage on the opening tour of the circuit.

Formula E returns in two weeks' time with the Santiago E-Prix in Chile.