Local hero Jose Maria Lopez fought his way through the field to claim points in consecutive races to salvage something for the DS Virgin team in Buenos Aires after a promising day faded away.
Setting the pace in a flag-filled first practice and teammate Sam Bird topping the timing sheet in practice two, hopes were high in the DS Virgin camp heading into qualifying, but it all fell apart when Lopez made contact with the wall on a promising 200kw lap, so had to settle for eighteenth; whilst Bird lined up his DS Virgin in tenth.
When it came to the race, ‘Pechito’ was certainly up for a fight in front of his home crowd, working his way through the field whilst conserving energy, he pitted his DS Virgin with only 1% of energy remaining before continuing his progress through a tough midfield battle in his second car, eventually coming home in tenth place.
“I enjoyed moving through the pack today in front of a home crowd,” said ‘Pechito’.
“I have renewed confidence in my energy management, and I’m growing in confidence and aggression with every minute I spend in the DSV-02.”
Last seasons Buenos Aires ePrix winner Sam Bird had a nightmare of a race despite a promising start. Contact on lap four left the British driver with critical damage to his left rear suspension and no choice other than to go for the point on offer for fastest lap in his second car.
He did hold that title for a while, before Mahindra Racing’s Felix Rosenqvist – who also had no choice but to go for fastest lap – set a lap record towards the end of the race leaving the Brit empty handed.
“Today was just one of those things,” said Bird. “However, I was pleased with the pace of the car in the early stages. Let’s hope I can take the fight further in Mexico City!”
