Bird Cruises to Putrajaya Victory

Sam Bird took the second round of the 2014-15 Formula E Championship in dominating fashion from the streets of Putrajaya. The Brit led most of the race and held a commanding gap over most of the field through out the race.

He took the lead from Oriol Servià after the first safety car period and saw no challenge from anyone through out the rest of the race. Despite opening up such a large gap, the Virgin Racing driver did 18 laps on the first stint, longer than any other driver

Lucas di Grassi finished second from 18th on the grid after working his way through the field on the first stint and picking up a handful of positions on pit stops. Sébastien Buemi followed di Grassi on the battle from the back of the grid and the Swiss driver came home on the final step of the podium after starting 19th. Pole-sitter Nicolas Prost had to serve a ten-grid spot penalty for causing the final corner collision with Nick Heidfeld at Beijing but the Frenchman was able to climb his way up to fourth in the race.

Jérôme d'Ambrosio rounded out the top five with Karun Chandhok finishing sixth. Servià finished seventh after leading a few laps at the opening of the race thanks to Prost being relegated ten positions on the grid. António Félix da Costa scored points on his Formula E debut with an eighth place finish. Jaime Alguersuari picked up his first points of his Formula E career with a ninth place finish and picking up two points for fastest lap by running a lap of 1:24.429 seconds (66.091 MPH). Daniel Abt switched cars during the second safety car period with just under 20 laps to go. Abt was able to stretch his battery to making to the end of the race and finish tenth for the second consecutive race.

Ho-Pin Tung came home 11th despite a spin earlier in the race. Stéphane Sarrazin finished 12th with Matthew Brabham coming home 13th on debut, the final driver on the lead lap. Bruno Senna finished 14th after an accident on the final lap while the Brazilian was in fourth. Senna had the back end step out on him at turn ten, putting the Mahindra Racing driver into the barrier. Franck Montagny finished 15th after being handed a penalty for contact with Nick Heidfeld that ended the German's day. The Frenchman lost more time after having to make an extra pit stop when he lost his front wing following contact with Senna.

Katherine Legge and Jarno Trulli each finished three laps down. Legge spun on lap one and got into Michele Cerruti. Trulli had to serve a penalty during the race after exceeding the 28kW per hour limit during the first stint of the race. Nelson Piquet, Jr. retired on lap 23 after he got into the outside barrier in turn one while trying to overtake Trulli. Heidfeld and Cerruti rounded out the field. The average speed of the race was 56.308 MPH.

Lucas di Grassi leads the championship with 43 points, three clear of Sam Bird. There is a four-way tie for third between Franck Montagny, Karun Chandhok, Jérôme d'Ambrosio and Nicolas Prost with 18 points. Charles Pic did not compete at Putrajaya due to commitments as Lotus F1 test driver in Abu Dhabi but he and Oriol Servià are tied for seventh in the championship with 12 points. Nelson, Piquet, Jr., Jaime Alguersuari and António Félix da Costa all have four points while Stéphane Sarrazin, Daniel Abt and Takuma Sato round out the points, each with two to their name.

Audi Sport ABT jumps tot he team championship lead with 45 points, one clear of Virgin Racing. The e.dams team is third with 33 points. After failing to score in Malaysia, Andretti Autosport falls to fourth, tied with their fellow American team Dragon Racing, each on 30 points. Mahindra Racing has 18 points, Super Aguri has six, China Racing has four and Venturi Grand Prix has two. TrulliGP remains the lone team yet to score in Formula E.

Round three of the 2014-15 Formula E season will take place on the street of Punta del Este, Uruguay on Saturday December 13th.