Jean-Eric Vergne says his victory at the Paris ePrix was the best of his career, and described the weekend as ‘incredible’.
The Frenchman grabbed pole and led every lap as he dominated the race in his home city, and extended his lead over title challenger Sam Bird to thirty-one points.
After the race he was ecstatic, and thanked his team for the quick pit stop that kept him in front of Bird despite the two being nose to tail as they came in.
“What an incredible weekend,” said Vergne. “To get through to Super Pole and be on Pole Position for the start of the race was an amazing feat. Winning my home race here in Paris is one of the most incredible feelings I have ever experienced.
“This victory was the best of my career, the car and the team were perfect all weekend long. We were fighting so hard on the circuit for the first half of the race before the pit stops.
“The pressure was really on for the team when we made the stop, but everything was perfect, from start to finish. Thank you to the team and to the fans who came to support me at home.”
It was a more tumultuous race for his Techeetah team-mate however. Andre Lotterer had looked set to complete the team’s second one-two of the season only to run out of energy on the closing lap.
It meant the German had to completely lift off, losing him places and causing a collision with Sam Bird.
Speaking afterwards Lotterer said that he was just two corners away from hitting his next regen spot that would have seen him complete the race in the second, but said that he considered it a lesson learnt.
He said, “It was so close to our second 1-2 today in Paris. We knew that we were going to have to take a bit of risk with such a tight track, so we did.
“We fought hard until the very end but ran out of energy only four turns ahead of the finish line. It was so marginal, I hit the limit just before T10 and my next regen spot, if I would have hit the regen just a little bit before, it would have allowed me to go through T12 and I would have made the race and get that second place.
“It’s the first time that this has happened to me, and it’s another learning experience to take on board. It was unfortunate that I had contact with Sam at the last moment when I ran out, I tried to get out of the way but as he came with such a speed difference, it just wasn’t possible.
“I thought he was going to the outside line, so I went for the inside. I’ve had the same situation happen to me in the past, but reversed, in the first race of the season and its part of Formula E and it happens.”
His sixth place did help the team accrue thirty-six points, which extended their lead over DS Virgin Racing in the team’s championship to 51 points.
