Formula E: Jean-Eric Vergne becomes first double champion
- Published
Highlights: Jean-Eric Vergne becomes first ever back-to-back Formula E champion
Jean-Eric Vergne became the first double Formula E champion at the season finale in New York after two title rivals crashed on the final lap.
Going into this race, Mitch Evans and Lucas Di Grassi were championship contenders, and both needed at least a race win to claim the title.
But Di Grassi attempted to overtake Evans running them both into the wall.
Robin Frijns claimed the race victory, while Alexander Sims, and Sebastien Buemi finished in second and third.
The championship had eight different winners in the first eight races, but it was Vergne who surged after a second victory of the season in Monaco.
Buemi's win in Saturday's first race of the double-header finale had taken the title battle down to Sunday's final race.
Frenchman Vergne, who races for DS Techcheetah, said: "Yesterday was stressful and [today] it was aggressive at the start, and then I was managing the situation at the end, and they [Evans and Di Grassi] both crashed, and I won.
"There's so much emotion running in my body right now, I feel proud to be in this team and I'm so happy to have won it again".
Dutchman Frijns took his second victory of the season after starting second on the grid. The Envision Virgin Racing driver made a successful lunge up the inside of polesitter Sims after the Safety Car restart which saw Andre Lotterer and Jose Maria Lopez retire following a collision on the first lap.
Briton Sims' claimed his first pole position in nine years on Sunday, which came as a surprise to many - rounding up to a career 10th. That knocked Buemi out of championship contention as he needed three points for pole position and a race win to seal the championship.
The Swiss driver Buemi, who won the championship in Formula E's second season, had to settle for a podium finish - his fourth in the last four races.