The Cape Town street circuit took a heavy toll this weekend and former champion Antonio Félix Da Costa took the opportunity to emerge victorious at the South Africa ePrix on Saturday.
Just 13 of the 22 single-seaters that have competed in Formula E this season have seen the checkered flag after the 30 laps of the event. The two cars of the ABT Cupra and Mahindra teams as well as veteran Sam Bird (Jaguar) did not even start the race due to incidents in qualifying and practice.
The leader of the overall standings, the German Pascal Wehrlein (Porsche), did not finish the race either. In fact, it ended for him on the first lap when he crashed into the back of Sebastien Buemi’s (Envision) car.
Returning to Da Costa, the Portuguese celebrated his first victory at the wheel of a Porsche despite starting from 11th place. Above all, he overtook the leader Jean-Éric Vergne (Penske) with a very daring maneuver in the final moments.
The Frenchman settled for second place while New Zealander Nick Cassidy (Envision) completed the podium.
In the overall standings, Wehrelin remained in the lead with 80 points, 18 more than Jake Dennis (Andretti). The latter has not scored a point in the last two events. Verge and Da Costa follow with 50 and 46 points respectively.
The Formula E Championship is now traveling to Brazil for the Sao Paulo ePrix, which will be held on March 25.