Mitch Evans was able to hold off Andre Lotterer to win the Rome E-Prix, his and Panasonic Jaguar Racing’s maiden victory in FIA Formula E.

Andre Lotterer was able to keep ahead of Evans and Stoffel Vandoorne behind him at the start – with both drivers getting off the line quickly – before a lengthy red flag due to a pile-up at the final chicane on the opening lap.

Evans was able to take the lead from Lotterer after a feisty move at the final chicane with just over 15 minutes to go, just before his first use of attack mode had run out.

He missed getting his second attack mode use with Lotterer pressuring him from behind, but he was able to hold him off to be able to get it with two minutes of the race remaining.

Evans proceeded to lead to the chequered flag after being asked by his engineer to slow down so that he wouldn’t have to complete one extra lap at the end.

The pair created a gap to Vandoorne in third during the final 10 minutes of the race. The third-place finish was Vandoorne’s first in the top 10 after retiring four times in the six races this season before the Rome E-Prix.

Robin Frijns came home fourth for Virgin Racing ahead of Nissan e.dams duo Sebastien Buemi and Oliver Rowland.

Further back, season three champion Lucas di Grassi finished seventh ahead of Jerome d’Ambrosio and BMW’s Antonio Felix da Costa, the top two drivers in the points standings before this weekend.

Pascal Wehrlein rounded off the top 10 for Mahindra after defending FE champion Jean-Eric Vergne was given a drive-through penalty on the final lap for overtaking under a full course yellow earlier in the race.

The race was red flagged for nearly an hour after a multiple car pile-up at the final chicane on the opening lap, which was caused by Jose Maria Lopez clipping the inside barrier and going into the wall.

Lopez had earlier span Sam Bird around after an attempted overtake, giving the British damage.

However Bird was able to limp back to the pits under the red flag, with the Virgin Racing team getting him back out when the race restarted.

Bird eventually finished in 11th and less than two seconds from the points scoring positions, while Lopez crossed the finish line down in 16th over 30 seconds behind Bird.