DS Techeetah’s Jean-Eric Vergne has successfully defended his ABB FIA Formula E Championship. Neither race for Vergne, nor the DS Techeetah team, at this weekend’s New York City E-Prix was straightforward. But both Vergne and DS Techeetah claimed their respective titles.

Both the high ambient and track temperatures pushed the 22 competitors and the new-for-season five MICHELIN Pilot Sport tire to its limits around the tight circuit in Brooklyn’s Red Hook neighborhood. Here is the link to Michelin Motorsport’s full recap.

DRAMATIC RACE ONE KEEPS TITLE BATTLE ALIVE

The heat intensified on-track with a number of incidents. Vergne got caught up in one to start Saturday at the Turn 6 hairpin. Contact to his nose assembly forced a pit stop. On the final lap things got worse for Vergne. Felipe Massa collided with him to set off a chain-reaction incident involving multiple cars.

All told, Nissan e.dams’ Sebastien Buemi claimed an overdue first win both for himself and Nissan on Saturday. Meanwhile Panasonic Jaguar’s Mitch Evans and Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler’s Lucas di Grassi finished second and fifth. All three at least had a slim chance to catch Vergne on Sunday.

VERGNE SECURES TITLE SUNDAY

Buemi didn’t secure the pole position and the three points that went with it, so he was eliminated pre-race. Evans and di Grassi’s races came unglued on the final lap as they collided exiting Turn 10. This promoted Vergne up to seventh place, with more than enough of a margin to defend his title.

“It’s an emotional moment for me,” said Vergne after the finish. “Given my start position in the middle of the pack, I had to tread very carefully. It was very complicated. I am so proud of my team and all the good work we achieved together in the course of the season.”

Vergne won the driver’s title by 17 points over Buemi, whose late surge propelled him into the top-five for the first time all season in New York. Among teams, DS Techeetah won the title by 19 points over Audi.

Perhaps overlooked, Envision Virgin’s Robin Frijns won Sunday’s season finale over BMW i Andretti’s Alexander Sims. The past IMSA GT Le Mans driver scored the pole in the morning, then became the 16th different podium finisher in FE this season.