Dominant Abt destroys opposition in Berlin ePrix home race

It was a clean sweep for Audi Sport's Daniel Abt in Berlin's ePrix, the local hero mastering the Tempelhof track and his rivals to put himself in contention for Formula E's drivers' championship.

When the lights went out, poleman Daniel Abt held his own into turn 1 and throughout the opening laps, the German driver extending his lead thereafter over front row rival Oliver Turvey.

Behind, championship leader Vergne was quick from the get-go, getting the measure of Dragon Racing's Jerome d'Ambrosio, the Belgian also having to concede a spot to Abt's team mate Lucas di Grassi and then to Renault.edams Sebastien Buemi.

On lap 11, Vergne lost two places in three corners to di Grassi and Buemi, the Brazilian keeping up his opening race momentum to hunt down Abt. Fighting back, Vergne forced a move on the inside of Buemi and made it stick, shortly before the car swap, but the Abt-di Grassi-Turvey remained unchallenged until the pit stop window opened on lap23.

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Turvey was the first of the top three to come in, the NIO crew and driver executing a perfect change, but the Briton still remained third behind the Audi Sport duo when all was said in done.

A slow swap by Vergne however enabled Buemi to reclaim fourth, although the Swiss driver was at that point already at a fair distance from the front-runners.

The untouchable Abt, absolutely at one with his car, continued to build an authoritative lead, over his team mate and the rest of the field, at a loss to challenge the German.

The Berlin Formula E fans therefore focused their attention on the battle for the final podium spot with Turvey, Buemi and Vergne all running nose to tail.

On lap 34, Turvey relinquished the position to both his rivals, with Vergne gaining an upper hand on Buemi shortly after.

Abt's dominant display lasted the full 45 laps, the 25-year-old taking the checkered flag for his second FE career win from di Grassi, the duo bringing Audi a worthy 1-2.

Techeetah's Vergne secured third from Buemi and Turvey, extending his championship lead to forty points with three races to go, while Jaguar's Mitch Evans came in sixth, edging out DS Virgin's Sam Bird.

Venturi's Maro Engel, Mahindra's Nick Heidfeld and Techeetah's André Lotterer rounded off the top ten.

The next round of the ABB-Formula E championship will take place in Zurich on June 10.

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