After clinching the Formula E Drivers' Championship title at the New York City E-Prix, Techeetah's Jean-Eric Vergne has hailed Season Four of the all-electric single seater series as the "highlight" of his career.
Vergne, 28, headed to New York with a 23 point lead in the Drivers' Standings over Sam Bird and after getting disqualified from qualifying for Race 1 of the double-header event in the Big Apple, faced an uphill challenge to clinch the title in the penultimate round of the season.
Starting from last place, Vergne battled his way through the field without compromising energy management, closing in on and overtaking Bird to finish in fifth place while his rival finished in ninth, handing the Frenchman his first championship title since 2010.
"Champions! To describe this feeling is impossible – we have worked so hard this season and the pressure has been huge, but we battled hard and came out as winners," he said.
"Thank you to everyone in the team and everyone who has supported us, you guys are amazing!"
In the final race of the season, Vergne started from third on the grid while his Techeetah team-mate Andre Lotterer lined up in second place after getting pipped to pole position by Renault e.dams' Sebastien Buemi.
Getting a strong start from the second row of the grid, Vergne took the lead in Turn 1 and led throughout the race, holding off a never-ending challenge from Season Three champion Lucas di Grassi to take the chequered flag in first place, ending his season on a high with a fourth victory.
"It feels great to sign off the season in style with another race win," continued Vergne.
"I'd like to thank the whole team for all the hard work this season and for the results we have earned, against the odds.
"This season has been the highlight of my career. We are a small customer team and honestly, we have done something amazing this year, going up against other manufacturers and coming within two points of a double championship win.
"This weekend couldn't have been any better, despite starting with a disqualification in qualifying, I came through to win the Drivers' Championship.
"And again, we qualified well in the wet [for Race 2], made a strong start and I could manage the race. It was tough because we know how strong the Audi's are in the race.
"No mistakes were allowed on my side and I achieved that. I feel even hungrier now to win more races and that's the attitude I'm going to have for next season. I'm looking forward to it already," he added.
Formula E's fifth season of competition will commence on December 15 with the inaugural Riyadh E-Prix where the championship's second generation of competition will be launched.
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