After winning the inaugural Rome ePrix, DS Virgin Racing's Sam Bird has admitted that he is surprised at the position that both the team and himself are in after initially expecting to struggle in Season Four.
In Saturday's race around the streets of the Italian capital city, Bird started from second on the grid behind polesitter Felix Rosenqvist and maintained the position throughout the first stint of the race.
After the pit window opened on lap 16 and Bird pitted, the British driver rejoined the race in eighth although this was a net second position. Second place became the lead, however, on lap 24, when Rosenqvist suffered a suspension failure, causing him to retire.
Holding off a hard-charging Lucas di Grassi, Bird crossed the finishing line on the 33rd lap to take a second win of the 2017/18 season.
“I honestly didn’t think I’d be sitting here today," said Bird post-race. "When I saw the pace of Felix in the race, I thought the best I can hope for is probably 18 points.
"I don’t know what happened with Felix [Rosenqvist] – it didn’t look like he hit a wall or anything. Apparently, he hit a curb too hard and its broken the suspension, which is a shame for him and that gave me the lead.
"I had to get my head down again and try and position my car in the right places at the right time with the right amount of energy for the last lap, because I knew Lucas [di Grassi] would be hunting me. So I tried to give myself the best scenario and it worked out well.
"I didn’t think that we’d be in this position at the beginning of the year, I thought that we would struggle a little bit more with what we were bringing to the table, but we’ve maximised everything.
"I sit here very proud to be the winner of the first ever Rome E-Prix. The crowd was amazing and everybody looked like they were having fun," he added.
By taking a seventh career victory in Rome, Bird has reignited his title hopes in the Drivers' Championship, overtaking retiree Rosenqvist to claim second in the standings, trailing leader Jean-Eric Vergne by 18 points with five races to go.
Bird's win also improved DS Virgin Racing's position within the Teams' Championship, with the British marque overtaking Mahindra to claim second after being previously locked in a battle with Jaguar Racing for third place. DS Virgin Racing trail Techeetah by 34 points as Mark Preston's independent outfit continue to lead the way.
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