2019 Marrakesh ePrix
The 2019 Marrakesh ePrix (formally the 2019 Marrakesh E-Prix) was a Formula E electric car race held at the Circuit International Automobile Moulay El Hassan in the Agdal district of Marrakesh, Morocco on 12 January 2019. It was the second round of the 2018–19 Formula E Championship and the third Marrakesh ePrix. Jérôme d'Ambrosio of Mahindra won the 31-lap race after starting from tenth place. Second place went to Virgin's Robin Frijns and his teammate Sam Bird was third.
| 2019 Marrakesh ePrix | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Race 2 of 13 of the 2018–19 Formula E Championship
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| Race details | |||||
| Date | 12 January 2019 | ||||
| Official name | 2019 Marrakesh E-Prix | ||||
| Location | Circuit International Automobile Moulay El Hassan, Agdal, Marrakesh | ||||
| Course | Street Circuit | ||||
| Course length | 2.971 kilometres (1.846 mi) | ||||
| Distance | 31 laps, 92.101 km (57.229 mi) | ||||
| Weather | Sunny | ||||
| Pole position | |||||
| Driver | Envision Virgin Racing | ||||
| Time | 1:17.851 | ||||
| Fastest lap | |||||
| Driver | Lucas di Grassi | Audi | |||
| Time | 1:20.296 on lap 31 | ||||
| Podium | |||||
| First | Mahindra Racing | ||||
| Second | Envision Virgin Racing | ||||
| Third | Envision Virgin Racing | ||||
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Lap leaders | |||||
Bird won the pole position by setting the fastest lap in qualifying and held the lead despite Techeetah's Jean-Éric Vergne clattering into his left-hand sidepod and spinning 180 degrees on the race's opening lap. António Félix da Costa of BMW Andretti passed Bird to move into first place on lap ten and pulled away to lead the following fourteen laps until a collision on lap 26 with his teammate Alexander Sims careened him into a barrier. That promoted d'Ambrosio into the lead, which he maintained through a safety car period; he held off Frijns on the final lap to win by 0.143 seconds. It was d'Ambrosio's third career victory and his first without having inherited the win through driver disqualifications.
D'Ambrosio's victory put him in the lead of the Drivers' Championship with 40 points. Félix da Costa fell to second and Vergne, who recovered to finish fifth in the race, dropped to third. Vergne's teammate André Lotterer moved up a place to fourth and Frijns moved from twelfth to fifth. In the Teams' Championship, Techeetah led with 47 points, Mahindra and BMW were tied for second as Virgin progressed to fourth with eleven races left in the season.