After being part of Envision Virgin Racing's maiden double podium finish at the Marrakesh E-Prix, Sam Bird believes that the team's performance is promising as one of two customer teams on the Season Five grid.
Using Audi's e-tron FE05 package for the 2018/19 campaign, Envision Virgin scored its first points finish of the season in Marrakesh, with Robin Frijns and Bird taking second and third respectively.
Starting from pole position, Bird had a race of mixed fortunes, with contact in Turn 1 with Jean-Eric Vergne causing the driver to lose some pace.
Maintaining the lead briefly, Bird dropped from first in the early stages of the race after being overtaken by Antonio Felix da Costa, falling to as low as sixth place before fighting back through the field.
Benefitting from a collision between BMW i Andretti Motorsport's da Costa and Alexander Sims who were running first and second with 10 minutes of racing remaining, Bird recovered onto the podium, following Frijns and Jerome d'Ambrosio who held the lead.
With Sims rejoining the race in fourth after his collision with da Costa, the driver armed his final use of Attack Mode in an attempt to clear Bird in what was a one-lap sprint to the chequered flag, ultimately failing to clear his fellow countryman which allowed Bird to stand on the podium for the first time since the 2018 Zurich E-Prix.
"After getting hit from behind, I felt like I was nursing the car and had a bit of an issue," said Bird.
"I didn’t feel very competitive in a straight line today, but that’s how it goes.
"We collectively got an amazing result for the team and we showed pace in qualifying, which is promising.
"As one of the only customer teams, what we’re doing is really impressive.
"Without any testing, I wonder how competitive we’ll be in a few races time," he added.
Bird's podium in Marrakesh marked the 21st of his Formula E career, while second place for Frijns marked his highest finish in the championship to date.
Holding 36 points, Envision Virgin Racing occupies fourth in the Teams' Championship, 11 points adrift of DS Techeetah who currently lead.
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