Antonio Felix da Costa wins opening Formula E race of season in Saudi Arabia
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Highlights: Da Costa wins first Formula E race of season
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Antonio Felix da Costa won the opening ABB FIA Formula E Championship race of the season in Saudi Arabia.
The BMW Andretti driver just held off reigning champion Jean-Eric Vergne after a safety car saw the race bunched up in the closing stages in Ad Diriyah.
Da Costa started from pole but slipped behind the Frenchman, before Vergne took a pit penalty for overusing power.
Vergne took second with Jerome d'Ambrosio third, while Felipe Massa finished 14th on his Formula E debut.
Oliver Rowland was the highest-finishing of the five British drivers in seventh, followed by Sam Bird in 11th.
"It's amazing, it's been tough, it's been long months of work and I am really happy with that," said Da Costa.
"We have got some work to do, but a good start and we will work on that and keep it going."
Da Costa set the early pace, despite a messy start from pole where the Portuguese driver overshot his starting position and began the race at an angle.
Vergne produced a smart overtake with 26 of the 45-minute plus one lap race to go, but the TECHEETAH driver dropped back after being handed a drive-through penalty.
Da Costa, Massa, Stoffel Vandoorne, Lucas di Grassi and Daniel Abt were the top five drivers to receive a fan boost, as voted for by viewers using an app to determine who gets some extra power during a race.
The new 'Attack Mode' also saw drivers take additional risks by moving off the racing line and on to a different area of the track, where the mode is activated to provide the car with a temporary power boost.
A yellow flag with 10 minutes remaining saw leader Da Costa reeled back in, producing a flat-out finish after the race restarted with three minutes on the clock.
Da Costa activated his Attack Mode off the back of the safety car to quickly re-open a two-second lead and then just about held off a resurgent Vergne.
Attack mode? Fan boost? Formula E explained
Still to come...
12 January 2019: Marrakesh, Morocco
26 January 2019: Santiago, Chile
16 February 2019: Mexico City
10 March 2019: Hong Kong
23 March 2019: Sanya, China
13 April 2019: Rome, Italy
27 April 2019: Paris, France
11 May 2019: Monaco
25 May 2019: Berlin, Germany
22 June 2019: Bern, Switzerland
13 and 14 July 2019: New York, USA