©FormulaE
Techeetah's Jean-Eric Vergne put a cherry on top of his 2017/18 Formula E crown by winning Sunday's New York ePrix, while Audi prevailed in the team standings at the season finale.
Organisers in New York feared at one point an outright cancellation of the weekend's second race because of the threat of heavy thunderstorms. Eventually however, the Southern tip of Brooklyn was spared by the elements and the 43-lap battle was launched.
From third on the grid, Vergne elbowed his way past poleman Sebastien Buemi and took the lead into Turn 1, while André Lotterer slotted in into second. However, both Techeetah drivers were immediately put under investigation for suspicions of having jumped the start.
Formula E's stewards pondered their fate during a full-course yellow brought on by Dragon Racing's Jose Maria Lopez who was left stranded on the track with suspension damage, but also by an incident involving Antonio Felix da Costa, Luca Filippi and Jerome d’Ambrosio on the approach to Turn 11.
Ultimately, Lotterer was hit with a 10-second stop/go penalty, while race leader Vergne was spared the sanction.
The Frenchman continued to hold his advantage, now over Lucas di Grassi and Daniel Abt, the Audi driver being the first to kick off the pit stop rotations on lap 22.
The order among the front-runners remained unchanged when all was said and done, but Vergne found himself more intensely pressured by di Grassi. The Brazilian pulled out all the stops in the closing stages of the race, challenging the newly-crowned FE champion for all his worth.
Behind, Abt and Buemi closed right up on the leading duo, making it a thrilling four-car scrap to the checkered flag. Vergne held his own however to win by 0.5s from di Grassi, Abt and Buemi.
Mahindra's Felix Rosenqvist came home fifth after a battle with sixth-placed Jaguar man Mitch Evans. The Brit's team mate Nelson Piquet Jr. was P7 ahead of Nick Heidfeld, while Lotterer and Sam Bird rounded off the top ten.
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