“The last two years have just been so hard,” said da Costa, who was only 15th in the drivers’ standings in the 2017-18 season, while the Andretti squad finished at the bottom of the teams’ standings. “I was far from giving up — I’m a fighter, after all. But it’s hard — I’m also a winner and I hate to lose,” da Costa added. “To finally do it today is just amazing… the DAC is back!”
After the team posted the quickest times in two of the three days of pre-season testing with its new Gen 2 car, da Costa took pole for the opening race on the Ad Diriyah street course. The Portuguese driver led early before being passed by reigning series champion Jean-Eric Vergne and his DS Techeetah teammate Andre Lotterer. After the Techeetah pair were hit with drive-through penalties for a technical infringement (overpowering during regeneration), da Costa regained the lead and was able to hold off Vergne for the win in a tense final lap.
“My heart rate was a little bit higher as they (DS Techeetah drivers) got closer again,” said da Costa. “I used Attack Mode just like JEV (Vergne) did, and I managed to keep the win at the end. It was a really clever way to use it.”
Runner-up Vergne was equivocal about his day. “Well.. let’s take the positive from today, I’m really happy to finish second although the win was ours without the drive-through penalty,” mused the champion. “That’s motorsport — we learn from our mistakes and go for more success!”
While the BMW Andretti team was in celebration mode after the race, rival German manufacturer — and reigning Formula E teams’ champion — Audi Sport Abt Schaeffler was left perplexed after its familiar strong form went missing.
“We need to improve everything,” said team leader Lucas di Grassi after finishing a disappointing ninth, having qualified only 18th. His teammate Daniel Abt admitted he’d “prefer winning and being disqualified than only driving for P8 and being unhappy about my pace.”
Last season, the team got off to a similarly poor start after di Grassi encountered a variety of technical issues in the Hong Kong opener while Abt was stripped of the race victory for a technical violation. This time, though, the team’s frustrations weren’t the result of mechanical or procedural failures, just a lack of speed.
“We were not quick — in the race, we were struggling,” admitted Abt.
Source: Racer