Robin Frijns opens his counter in Paris

Robin Frijns (Virgin Racing) won the Paris ePrix, at the end of an eventful race, the first actually contested in the rain in the discipline.

Finally, in the 53rd race in Formula E history it's the first ever wet race! #ABBFormulaE #ParisEPrice pic.twitter.com/dBwBgiM2Qm

- ABB Formula E (@FIAFormulaE) April 27th

After the start procedure, pole sitter Oliver Rowland leads his teammate Nissan e.dams Sébastien Buemi, Robin Frijns (Virgin Racing), Felipe Massa (Venturi) and Maximilian Günther (Dragon Racing), but the leader made a mistake alone on the first lap and hit the protective barriers, leaving Buemi to take control of the race.

the moment @ oliverrowland1 had his race win dreams dashed #ParisEPrice #ABBFormulaE pic.twitter.com/ois6E6TUCt

- ABB Formula E (@FIAFormulaE) April 27th

A few minutes later, Frijns activated his Attack Mode and put pressure on the leader Buemi, even making contact and damaging the muzzle of his car. The Swiss waits one more lap to benefit from his extra power and resists the Dutchman perfectly.

Behind the leading duo, André Lotterer (DS Techeetah) moved up to 3rd place after getting the better of Günther and Massa. But it was for first place that things changed 32′ from the finish when Frijns passed Buemi, the Swiss also having to give in to Lotterer before returning to the pits, victim of a puncture.

31m to go. @Sebastien_buemi pits with a puncture. The day is not quite turning out as planned.
 https://t.co/LQzG4VGFsw
-#NissanFormulaE#IntelligentMobility#ParisEPrice pic.twitter.com/qSyH019rMn

- Nissan NISMO (@NISMO) April 27, 2019

The rain began to appear half an hour from the checkerboard and the race direction deployed Full Course Yellow, the storm becoming more and more intense. The peloton was finally released just over 20′ from the finish, but Alexander Sims (BMW i Andretti) finished in the protective barriers, after contact with Oliver Rowland, causing another neutralization.

This race is crazy! @AlexanderSims suffers heartbreak again after a race-ending incident involving a number of cars #ABBFormulaE #ParisEPrice pic.twitter.com/2e323jYoge

- ABB Formula E (@FIAFormulaE) April 27th

There is a quarter of an hour left when the green flag is displayed. Frijns remains in the lead ahead of Lotterer and Abt while Massa spins off and lets several drivers pass, including Edoardo Mortara (Venturi). But the pilot Mercedes-AMG in GT shoots straight at turn 1 and drops down the rankings.

Full Course Yellow is deployed again following another accident, this time involving Alex Lynn (Jaguar Racing) and Mortara at turn 13 while at the same time, Oliver Turvey (NIO) collides with Felipe Massa, the two rivals leaving in the escape route of turn 1. The race management finally decided to launch the safety car onto the track to evacuate the damaged cars.

A little over 2′ from the finish, the peloton was released before a new incident involving Jérôme d'Ambrosio (Mahindra Racing). The Full Course Yellow was once again in place, before Frijns was able to complete the final meters of the event under a green flag.

Robin Frijns won in the end ahead of André Lotterer and Daniel Abt (Audi Sport Abt Schaeffler). The resident of Audi Sport in DTM pockets his first success in the discipline and becomes the eighth winner in eight races this season.

Lucas di Grassi (Audi Sport Abt Schaeffler) took fourth place ahead of Maximilian Günther. Jean-Eric Vergne places his DS Techeetah in sixth place ahead of Antonio Felix da Costa (BMW i Andretti), Gary Paffett (HWA Racelab), Felipe Massa and Pascal Wehrlein (Mahindra Racing), who had taken pole before being downgraded for poor tire pressures. -compliant.

Tom Dillmann (NIO) was forced to abandon. Note that Virgin becomes the first team to achieve two successes with the new Gen 2 single-seater.

Discover the full report of the Paris ePrix, in issue 2214 of AUTOhebdo, available from Monday evening in digital version and from this Wednesday on newsstands.