February 17, 2016

6 FEBRUARY 2016 IN BUENOS AIRES : INCREDIBLE PERFORMANCE SEES SAM BIRD CLAIM FIRST SEASON VICTORY FOR DS VIRGIN RACING

It took skill, it took patience and it took excellent team management, and so, after just four races, DS Virgin Racing claimed their first win of the season. And it was all done in incredible fashion.

“I’m just so delighted, I’m so happy for the whole team,” says Sam. “This is our first win as DS Virgin Racing, we have worked closely with DS Performance since the start of the season to better understand the car and after all this work I’m ecstatic I won today, not just for myself but for the entire team. This win is for everyone.”

With so many lead changes in a typical Formula E race it’s a real challenge to hold onto first place from beginning to end, but that’s exactly what Sam Bird did today. After dominating qualifying and setting the fastest lap in Super Pole to claim pole position for the race, Bird knew he’d given himself the best possible chance for success in the Buenos Aires ePrix.

Bird managed to head off Nico Prost on the run down to the first tight corner and from that moment on he stayed out in front.  It was always an extremely close affair, but he came under intense pressure after the car changeover, first of all from Lucas di Grassi, and then from Sebastien Buemi, who pushed Sam extremely hard right to the very last corner.  “It was an intense race,” says Alex Tai, Team Principal of DS Virgin Racing.

DS Virgin Racing’s other driver Jean Eric Vergne did extremely well, taking into consideration what little track time he had due to a bout of food poisoning during the night.  Jean Eric missed both Free Practice One and Free Practice Two earlier in the day, which effectively meant he went into qualifying completely blind.

The atmosphere in the DS Virgin Racing garage when Bird crossed the line was electrifying. After testing in Punta del Este, both DS Virgin Racing and DS Performance engineers were confident they had found some improvements in the car, but until the result in Buenos Aires they couldn’t be confident that things would play out as they had hoped.  In the end, all of the hard work paid off, and to make it an even better day, the team’s drivers showed how popular they are with fans by both winning Fanboost.

Xavier Mestelan, DS Performance Director delighted with the team’s victory. “This is a historic weekend for DS brand. A weekend that has offered DS Virgin Racing its first victory in Formula E and what a satisfaction to see all the hard work pay off! Let me just say a big thank you to Sam Bird for this absolutely exceptional performance in qualifying with the super pole and in the race where he fought right until the end.  Congratulations to Jean-Eric who managed to take the start despite severe food poisoning. We will continue to work to progress and to live other unforgettable moments.”