Sam Bird Wins in Malaysia

Sam Bird celebrates his win in Malaysia with Lucas di Grassi. Photo by Robertus Pudyanto/Getty Images AsiaPac

Formula E visited Putrajaya, Malaysia for its second ever ePrix, with Sam Bird taking the win after leading for much of the race.

The safety car came out following the first lap after a collision between Katherine Legge and Michela Cerruti and a spin by Matthew Brabham. On the restart, Bird was able to pass pole sitter Oriol Servia for the lead.

Following another safety car period for Nick Heidfeld after making contact with the wall on lap 8, Bird was able to pull away from the pack to gain a seven-second lead over second-place runner Jarno Trulli. Bird was able to save energy until lap 19, when he had to swap cars.

Bird exited the pits in second behind Daniel Abt, who was the first to pit and had a bad start at the beginning of the race. Bird passed Abt for the lead on lap 25 and was able to keep his position until the checkered flag, gaining his first win of the season.

Lucas di Grassi, who won in the Beijing ePrix, was able to finish in second after starting in eighteenth. After clear sailing for much of the race, di Grassi picked up a couple spots after Trulli and Nelson Piquet Jr made contact with each other on lap 23. Then, towards the end of the race, teammate Abt started to run low on power, which allowed di Grassi to make his way into second.

Sebastien Buemi, Nicolas Prost, and Jerome d’Ambrosio rounded out the top five.