The day after a first race completed in real chaos, it was the frank sunshine of New York that awaited the Formula E drivers this time. This was enough to offer a (slightly) more serene scenario but no less rich in challenges, with title candidates not all well placed on the grid departure. In particular the leader of the championship, Edoardo Mortaracondemned to start at the back of the grid just like the winner of the day before, Nick Cassidy.
Started in pole position, Antonio Felix da Costa maintained the advantage at the first turn whileAndre Lotterer almost got stuck on the grid, dropping out of the top 10 right away. Jean-Eric Vergne, he once again experienced a difficult start to find himself 18th, just ahead of Mortara. The first part of the race gave way to a logical round of observation at the forefront, knowing that for this race it was necessary to activate the attack mode only once to benefit from a surplus of power for eight minutes.
Dan Ticktum was among the first to activate it but the leaders had to wait longer: Nyck de Vries et Sérgio Sette Câmara did it half an hour from the finish, as did Jean-Éric Vergne, who launched a comeback to try to break into the top 10. Félix da Costa and Alexander Sims did it a lap later, allowing Stoffel Vandoorne take control of the race during a loop, before also activating. So we found Félix da Costa in the lead ahead of Sims and the two Mercedes de Vandoorne and De Vries.
Strong battle with De Vries
Stoffel Vandoorne leaves New York leading the championship.
Very offensive from the first minutes, Mitch Evans managed to get rid of several opponents, including De Vries near the halfway mark. Shortly before the last quarter of an hour of racing, all the competitors had activated and then exhausted their attack mode, putting everyone on an equal footing for the final rush. The moment chosen by Vandoorne to strike Sims and take second position. Evans, he insisted but ran into a De Vries closing the door in an (too) manly way, the Jaguar driver narrowly catching a situation that could have escaped him.
The same De Vries then had trouble with Sims, victim in turn of a late shift from his opponent, then attacked with key contact by Evans. Everything suited Félix da Costa and Vandoorne at the head of the race, both armed with the Fanboost which therefore did not change the balance of power. Evans, he stole third place from Sims a few minutes from the finish.
The last moments were marked by an incident in the middle of the pack, where Di Grassi found himself across the track for a few minutes, preventing the competitors from passing. While he was back in the points, Vergne paid the price, but Mortara pulled out of the game by reaching tenth place. In front, Félix da Costa did not flinch and won in front of a Vandoorne who suddenly took control of the championship. The Belgian leaves the United States 11 points ahead of Mortara, 15 over Evans and 27 over Vergne.
New York II E-Prix
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