Antonio Felix Da Costa finished comfortably ahead of Max Gunther to win the Marrakesh E-Prix, and takes the lead in the Formula E Championship.
Felix Da Costa took a lights to flag victory, after fending off an early charging BMW I Andretti Motorsport of Max Gunther, and ended up crossing the line 11 seconds ahead of this championship rival.
In a two car battle for the lead of the race in the early stages, Felix Da Costa deliberately allowed Gunther to pass him on lap 16 so that he could save some energy, but four laps later he re-took the lead from the BMW driver and retained that position for the remainder of the race.
After losing out in the battle to Felix Da Costa, Gunther found himself in a battle for second with the second DS Techeetah of Jean-Eric Vergne, who rose from 11th on the grid.
Vergne put in an incredible performance, especially as he has been unwell this weekend, and he carved his way through to field, passing the Porsche of Andre Lotter for third on lap 21.
The DS Techeetah driver then managed to overtake Gunther for second place on lap 27 out of 34, but despite some robust defending in the closing stages, Gunther managed to pass Vergne with two corners remaining on the last lap to secure second place, denying DS Techeetah a 1-2.
Sebastien Buemi was just behind the battling pair to finish in fourth, while Eduardo Mortara crossed the line in fifth, having battled with the Porsche of Lotterer for the majority of the race.
Jaguar driver Mitch Evans recovered brilliantly from his horrendous qualifying session, and carved his way up through the field to finish a second behind Mortara in sixth, while the Audi of Lucas Di Grassi, who made a great double overtake on Jerome d’Ambrosio and James Calado on lap 15, managed to finish seventh.
Despite a strong qualifying session and a great battle with Mortara, Lotterer dropped down the order in the latter stages of the race, finishing in eighth place, ahead of the Nissan of Oliver Rowland in ninth.
The Virgin Racing car of Sam Bird rounded out the top ten, ahead of Nyck De Vries, who ended up 11th, having recovered from 23rd after receiving a drive-through penalty on lap eight of overpower during re-generation.
Alex Sims was the only retirement of the race, after his car broke down on the final lap, dropping him out of sixth place.
Marrakesh E-Prix Results
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A. DA COSTA | DS TECHEETAH | 34 Laps |
| 2 | M. GÜNTHER | BMW I ANDRETTI MOTORSPORT | 11.427 |
| 3 | J. VERGNE | DS TECHEETAH | 12.034 |
| 4 | S. BUEMI | NISSAN E.DAMS | 12.282 |
| 5 | E. MORTARA | ROKIT VENTURI RACING | 15.657 |
| 6 | M. EVANS | PANASONIC JAGUAR RACING | 16.335 |
| 7 | L. DI GRASSI | AUDI SPORT ABT SCHAEFFLER | 18.706 |
| 8 | A. LOTTERER | TAG HEUER PORSCHE | 19.498 |
| 9 | O. ROWLAND | NISSAN E.DAMS | 20.126 |
| 10 | S. BIRD | ENVISION VIRGIN RACING | 20.295 |
| 11 | N. DE VRIES | MERCEDES-BENZ | 20.557 |
| 12 | R. FRIJNS | ENVISION VIRGIN RACING | 22.373 |
| 13 | J. D’AMBROSIO | MAHINDRA RACING | 22.785 |
| 14 | D. ABT | AUDI SPORT ABT SCHAEFFLER | 25.08 |
| 15 | S. VANDOORNE | MERCEDES-BENZ | 25.969 |
| 16 | J. CALADO | PANASONIC JAGUAR RACING | 26.528 |
| 17 | F. MASSA | ROKIT VENTURI RACING | 27.486 |
| 18 | N. JANI | TAG HEUER PORSCHE | 44.476 |
| 19 | B. HARTLEY | GEOX DRAGON | 49.002 |
| 20 | N. MÜLLER | GEOX DRAGON | 53.075 |
| 21 | O. TURVEY | NIO 333 FE TEAM | 59.969 |
| 22 | P. WEHRLEIN | MAHINDRA RACING | 1:13.414 |
| 23 | MA QINGHUA | NIO 333 FE TEAM | 1 Lap |
| DNF | A. SIMS | BMW I ANDRETTI MOTORSPORT |
