Sam Bird started his Formula E season with style, securing the win at this season's opening Hong Kong ePrix for DS Virgin Racing.
While Jean-Eric Vergne started from pole postion for Techeetah, Bird started the race from second place and snatched the lead from his French rival during the first half before picking up a penalty after making a mistake during his pitstop by overshooting his pitbox.
Despite the penalty, the Briton held off a hard charging Vergne who was looking to secure his second consecutive victory after winning the final round of the 2016-17 season in Montreal back in July, crossing the line over 11 seconds clear of the Frenchman.
A win in Hong Kong marks Bird's fifth career Formula E victory having joined the series for its inaugural season in 2014. Vergne crossed the line in second place, unable to make any inroads on Bird while Nick Heidfeld stood on the final step of the podium for Mahindra Racing.
Nelson Piquet Jr equalled Jaguar's best result in Formula E so far with a fourth place finish through a time penalty for Maro Engel whie Daniel Abt was the highest placed Audi driver, finishing in fifth.
Antonio Felix da Costa finished in sixth place for Andretti Autosport while Felix Rosenqvist finishing in seventh in the second Mahindra.
Edoardo Mortana finished in eighth, Alex Lynn in ninth and Renault e.dams' Nicholas Prost in tenth, rounding out the points paying postions for the reigning champions.
Outside of the points, Sebastien Buemi failed to finish inside the top ten in the second Renault e.dams machine after a technical problem caused him to stop out on track whilst running inside the top five. He also came to blows with his long term rival and reigning champion Lucas di Grassi, who picked up suspension damage in a clash with the Swiss racer in Turn 1, causing him to finish down in 18th.
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