Buemi gets a complicated victory in Uruguay

Sebastien Buemi has taken the victory in a rugged ePrix of Punta del Este, which took part today in the streets of Uruguay. After an intense start between Vergne and Piquet, Buemi took advantage of his constancy and multiple Safety Cars to win against Piquet and championship leader Lucas di Grassi.

The race started with a clean start but with movement. In the narrow streets of Punta del Este the cars of Formula E had a tough race ahead, and Vergne just started losing Pole position regarding Nelson Piquet Jr. Alguersuari soared from behind, placed fifth behind the e .Dams. Later Heidfeld took advantage of the extra power of ‘Fan Boost’ and was fifth, overtaking the Catalan.

Later came two Safety Cars practically following each other . First Sam Bird was in the air when he stepped on a high piano and crashed into the wall. Later, Da Costa left his Super Aguri lying on track, and after a few laps the safety car appeared again. Already on lap 11 green flag flew on track and returned hostilities to occur, with an aggressive Vergne in search of victory.

On lap 13 Vergne was finally decided and overtook firmly to China Racing’s Piquet. Shortly after Buemi tried to do the same maneuver at the end of the straight but the Swiss ket braking too much and the Brazilian remained second. A lap later Vergne and Sarria came into the pits to change cars, and seconds later Sarrazin touched one of the pianos and broke the suspension, causing a back spin and the third output of ‘Safety Car’. This maneuver gave advantage to all drivers to go through boxes and take the second car.

After the last pit stop, Heidfeld was placed first ahead of Buemi, Vergne, Piquet, Prost, Di Grassi, Trulli, Brabham and Alguersuari, falling to eleventh. Already in the 18th position, Venturi’s Sarrazin had already been removed and the action was back on track. Seconds after stewards penalized Heidfeld with a Drive Through that took away the first position and a possible victory. The reason communicated from race control was the use the full power more than five seconds, a move that also did Nicolas Prost, which gave him another Drive Trought, when he ran fourth.

Buemi was in the lead with Vergne and Piquet at the back. Salvador Duran left the race due to mechanical problems in his Super Aguri, while the only girl on the track this weekend, Michela Cerruti, also suffered a penalty for exceeding the pit lane speed. And to finish this recital of penalties, Heidfeld received one second Drive Trought for not being the minimum in pits, which had benefited him to be first.

With five laps to go, with the race a little stabilized, the Safety Car was out again, now for Brabham’s strong crash against the wall. Now with just two laps remaining, the fight for the win was put at its peak between Vergne and Buemi who was on the defensive. After two curves the Swiss from E.DAMS lost control and shortened the chicane, and after when the French from Andretti was pulled over,  the former Toro Rosso driver suffered a problem that caused his abandonment. Because of this, Piquet and Di Grassi got on the podium, and Alguersuari was fifth, thanks in part to multiple accidents and penalties after the pit stop where he fell to eleventh place.

And so this was the first win of Buemi and E.DAMS in the new Formula E in its third round of this first season. Great race from Piquet who adds his first podium, and third podium in three races for Di Grassi, which already takes out 18 points to Buemi and Bird in the championship. Trulli also made another great performance with a fourth place, followed by Alguersuari, Senna, Prost, D’Ambrosio, Servià ninth and closing the points Nick Heidfeld after two penalties.

Formula E returns on January 10 with ePrix of Buenos Aires in Argentina.

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