Local hero Vergne clinches home win on the streets of Paris

©FormulaE

Jean-Eric Vergne extended his Formula E championship lead with a home win - his third this season - on the streets of Paris on Saturday.

The Techeetah driver held his pole position at the start but struggled to shake off DS Virgin's Sam Bird and team mate André Lotterer in the opening laps of the 49-lap race.

The trio remained grouped in that order until the mandatory car-swap which they initiated on lap 24. Lotterer eventually muscled his way past Bird on lap 35, while Audi's Lucas di Grassi profited from the move by catching up and also passing the DS Virgin driver.

Up ahead, Vergne built himself a small cushion as Lotterer was forced to go defensive on di Grassi.

Heading into the last lap however, the German driver suddenly found himself short on energy. His Brazilian rival moved ahead but behind, drama unfolded when Bird hit the back of the dying Techeeth car.

Bird still made it to the checkered flag in third place, his front-right wheel hanging by a thread, while Venturi's Maro Engel and Renault e.dams Sebastien Buemi finished fourth and fifth.

Lotterer, Daniel Abt, Felix Rosenqvist, Oliver Turvey and José Maria Lopez rounded off the top ten.

Nelson Piquet Jr. made it to the grid after lengthy repairs by his Jaguar mechanics following a crash in free practice, but the Brazilian retired shortly after swapping cars as a result of a three-way crash involving Nicolas Prost and Tom Blomqvist.

Techeetah's Jean-Eric Vergne has extended his lead in the ABB FIA Formula E Championship to 31 points.

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