BMW’s Guenther denies Frijns and Vergne in thrilling finish

Maximilian Guenther won a fraught home Berlin E-Prix for BMW, narrowly beating a charging Robin Frijns in a near-photo finish across the finish line.

Guenther had battled with poleman and defending champion Jean-Eric Vergne for much of the race, with the deciding moment ultimately coming down to who had conserved more energy on the last lap.

Vergne and Guenther had diced between themselves from the start, passing the lead back and forth between them using the two mandatory attack mode periods.

Envision Virgin’s Frijns joined the fray at the last minute, as Vergne dropped back into the clutches of DS Techeetah team-mate and title favourite Antonio Felix da Costa, as well as Porsche driver Andre Lotterer.

Da Costa had battled back through the field after a disappointing qualifying session earlier in the day from ninth, and was part of a five-car fight for sixth place at one point – which ultimately put an end to Stoffel Vandoorne’s hopes as he was forced to retire his Mercedes with a puncture and then suspension damage.

Behind Da Costa – who can clinch the title in tomorrow’s race – and Lotterer were Nissan’s Oliver Rowland and and Mahindra’s Jerome D’Ambrosio in sixth and seventh respectively.

Lucas di Grassi and former championship hopeful Mitch Evans were eighth and ninth, while Alexander Sims completed the top 10 ahead of Sebastien Buemi.

The race was neutralised around the halfway mark by a scuffle which marked the retirement of Porsche’s Neel Jani, Dragon’s Sergio Sette Camara and Jaguar’s James Calado.

Sims attempted to overtake Sette Camara on the inside coming into the tight Turn 9, with Sette Camara braking late to defend from the charging BMW – which meant that the pair were brought quickly into Calado.

Calado was struck with a right rear puncture and eventually was forced to retire from the race – compounding a miserable trip to Berlin so far.

Sette Camara appeared to have a drivetrain failure on his Penske car and then stopped suddenly in the middle of the track, leading Jani to clatter into the back of him and bring out the safety car while both stricken cars were recovered.

Race Results