Techeetah’s Jean-Eric Vergne has claimed his second victory of the 2017-18 Formula E season in a dramatic Punta del Este ePrix.

The Frenchman inherited pole before the race due to penalties to other superpole runners, and he held off provisional polesitter Lucas di Grassi in superb style.

Vergne, who had radio communication issues in his first stint, repeatedly defended from the Brazilian to win by just 0.447 seconds.

This continues a 12-event streak of points finishes for Vergne, the joint fourth-best run in series history.

The Audi Sport racer di Grassi could only get within a best of a tenth of a second of Vergne after his penalty for exceeding track limits in qualifying.

Sam Bird appeared to be a late contender for victory as the two held each other up ahead, but he had to fall off on the final lap to save energy, and seal third.

Mitch Evans, who fell from third in superpole to a starting place of 16th after weight distribution issues were found after qualifying, made up 12 places including a superb Turn 13 move past Alex Lynn to recover fourth.

Felix Rosenqvist moved from 14th to a finish of fifth to ensure that Vergne’s drivers’ championship lead only extends to 30 points.

Other competitors to fall foul of qualifying track limits, Lynn and Oliver Turvey, ended in sixth and seventh.

A sixth-place result is Lynn’s best so far in an eight-race career in the category.

Jose Maria Lopez took 10 positions and the fastest lap on his way to eighth above Dragon team-mate Jerome d’Ambrosio.

Maro Engel completed the top 10.

Luca Filippi – who had been given a three-place grid penalty for speeding under red flags in practice two – moved from 15th to claim 13th.

Audi Sport’s Daniel Abt was forced to make a second pitstop while comfortably in a top five position after a seatbelt issue, and only made up one further position for 14th.

Nico Prost and Tom Blomqvist – who started on the final row after gearbox changes – claimed 15th and 16th.

Sebastien Buemi’s contest ended on lap 29 of 37 after making left-rear tyre contact with the wall and requiring an early pitstop after apparent steering issues.

Nelson Piquet Jr only completed 25 tours of the circuit after seemingly suffering a driveshaft issue.

Nick Heidfeld retired early on, with a short safety-car period for his car removal between laps four and five.