Berlin E-Prix: Evans leads Bird to seal Jaguar 1-2

Mitch Evans conquered his second consecutive win in Formula E in the first event held in Berlin on Saturday, the Kiwi edging Sam Bird who made it a Jaguar 1-2 in a chaotic race at Tempelhof that saw a total of 23 lead changes over the course of 43 laps.

Evans sealed his win with a crucial move into Turn 1 on poleman and race leader Sebastien Buemi with just four laps to go.

Bird eventually followed suit on the final lap thanks to a late braking move on the Envision Racing charger into the Turn 5 hairpin that delivered to Jaguar its first 1-2 in the all-electric series.

NIO 333’s Dan Ticktum was all elbows out at the start, the Briton launching his race from fourth but jumping ahead of Buemi on the outside of Turn 1.

It was a clean opening lap, but the field’s orderly running didn’t last for long, encouraged by a tightly grouped peloton that no one wanted to lead given the effectiveness of slipstreaming around Tempelhof’s layout.

Sergio Sette Camara triggered a Safety Car neutralisation early on following a messy start and two separate incidents involving contacts with Maximilian Guenther and René Rast.

After the restart, up ahead, permutations saw Jake Denis and Edoardo Mortara both momentarily lead as alternate Attack Mode strategies played out.

Midway through the lively proceedings, Ticktum collided with Penske’s Stoffel Vandoorne, ending both drivers’ races and sending the Safety Car out on the track for the second time of the day.

On the restart, a Jaguar trio comprised of works drivers Evans and Bird and the customer machine of Buemi took charge, the three cars extending their lead as their drivers worked together and opportunistically managed their energy.

As the race entered its closing stages, Buemi eventually lost out to his works Jaguar rivals, but also to Guenther who took third on the line for Maserati MSG despite losing his wing in a contact with the Swiss.

Buemi’s Envision teammate Nick Cassidy put ina spirited drive to complete the top five despite a pitstop to replace a punctured tyre suffered during the second Safety Car period.

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