February 25, (THEWILL) – Antonio Felix da Costa of Porsche claimed his first Formula E win since joining the team with a remarkable performance in Cape Town.
Starting from 11th on the grid, da Costa made an incredible two high-speed overtaking moves, including one on former DS Techeetah team-mate, Jean-Eric Vergne, which sealed his victory. Despite having lost the lead to Vergne earlier in the race, da Costa relentlessly attacked and made an unbelievable move round the outside of the super-fast kink to reclaim first place.
Vergne finished in second place, earning a valuable title race boost, as championship frontrunners, Pascal Wehrlein and Jake Dennis, had disappointing races. Wehrlein crashed into the back of Sebastien Buemi, on lap one and had to withdraw from the race with suspension damage on his Porsche. Dennis had a three-place penalty for impeding Stoffel Vandoorne, in qualifying and finished only 13th after getting a drive-through penalty for a tyre pressure infringement.
Da Costa’s win came after he earlier took the lead from Nick Cassidy, who started on the pole. While Cassidy could not hold off da Costa or Vergne, he managed to secure third place. Guenther and Fenestraz, who had been leading up to that point, both crashed out of the race. Buemi, who had started last after the Wehrlein hit, recovered to take fifth place behind Rene Rast’s McLaren.
Jaguar had another tough day, with Mitch Evans earning an 11th-place finish due to a penalty for exceeding the power limit and Sam Bird unable to start after a massive qualifying accident. Maserati also had a disappointing race, with Edoardo Mortara and Maximilian Guenther, both crashing out. Finally, Mahindra withdrew its factory cars and customer Abt Cupra’s entries during qualifying due to safety concerns relating to flexing suspension.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
