Antonio Felix da Costa emerged victorious in the inaugural Cape Town ePrix, the fifth race of the current Formula E season, with some daring overtaking maneuvers on Saturday.
Da Costa, who started the race in the 11th position, secured his first win of the campaign and climbed to fourth overall in the standings, lifting the 2019-20 champion’s spirits. Meanwhile, Pascal Wehrlein, Da Costa’s Porsche teammate and championship leader, failed to score any points due to a collision on the first lap.
Jean-Eric Vergne finished second for DS Penske, while Nick Cassidy secured the third position for Envision Racing. However, the field was depleted after Mahindra and customer team ABT Cupra withdrew their four cars due to safety concerns about the rear suspension. Moreover, Sam Bird of Jaguar couldn’t start due to the damage his car sustained in a qualifying crash.
Sacha Fenestraz of Nissan took the pole position with the fastest lap in Formula E history, averaging 154.987 kph. However, the French-Argentine driver crashed out after hitting the wall on the final lap.
Wehrlein, who collided with Envision’s Sebastien Buemi, still leads the championship with 80 points, with Jake Dennis of Avalanche Andretti following closely behind with 62 points, failing to score in the Cape Town ePrix. Vergne sits in third place with 50 points, while da Costa now has 46 points in the season.
WHAT A RACE!!!!!@AFELIXDACOSTA WINS IN CAPE TOWN! 🇿🇦#CapeTownEPrix pic.twitter.com/EI5rcBaEtQ
— Formula E (@FIAFormulaE) February 25, 2023
