Jean-Eric Vergne has hailed what was an emotional victory on the shores of Sanya to kick-start his Formula E title defence, with the reigning champion stating that the win only adds confidence to himself and DS Techeetah.
After taking the Formula E title in Season Four, Vergne experienced an uncharacteristically difficult start to the all-electric single seater series' present campaign, with a podium in Ad Diriyah marking the Frenchman's zenith in the first five races of the championship.
Taking fifth in Marrakesh, Vergne had a run of three point-less races in Santiago, Mexico City and Hong Kong, with this marking the driver's worst run of form in Formula E since the 2015/16 season when driving for DS Virgin Racing.
Heading to Hainan Island for the inaugural Sanya E-Prix, Vergne saw a change in fortune for the sixth race of the season, qualifying on the front row of the grid before going on to win, clearing Nissan e.dams' Oliver Rowland who started from pole position with 21 minutes + 1 lap of racing remaining.
Vergne's win marked the sixth of his 49-race Formula E career while the victory also allowed the Chinese national anthem to echo among the grandstands, with the race also marking DS Techeetah's home E-Prix.
"This is our first win as a new team, and I feel very proud and happy to have been able to bring this victory to DS," said Vergne post-race.
"It’s a new relationship and it’s always difficult when you start. But after 20 races in a row with points, the last three races not being able to score any points was extremely hard – I didn’t sleep very well between Hong Kong.
"It was a big day for us – we're a Chinese team and winning here was absolutely amazing. On the podium, when we had the Chinese anthem and all the fans were singing… it was actually quite emotional."
By winning in Sanya, Vergne has jumped from 11th to third in the Drivers' Championship, only eight points adrift of BMW's Antonio Felix da Costa who leads, with this win contributing to a boost in confidence for both the driver and team:
"It’s always good to come back on top, it boosts the confidence of myself and the team, and puts us back in a good spot for the championship," added Vergne.
"I think this was the turning point of the season and now we need to just to keep on doing good work and have good races in the European half of the season."
With Vergne's team-mate Andre Lotterer finishing in fourth place, DS Techeetah left Sanya with a haul of 37 points, allowing the outfit to move into fouth position in the Teams' Standings, with four points covering the top four in the championship
Formula E's European leg of Season Five will commence on April 13 where the series' Gen2 cars will take to the streets of Rome.
