Sebastien Buemi went from pole to victory lane at the first race of the London ePrix weekend today – clinching the team’s championship for e.dams-Renault.

Victory by the Swiss ex-Formula 1 ace combined with seventh place for Nico Prost was enough to clinch the championship for the French team..

This was Buemi’s third win of the season, following on from those in Punta del Este and Monaco and it means the fight for the drivers’ title is wide open again. Series leader Nelson Piquet Jr, finished fifth, also beaten by fellow countryman Lucas di Grassi, who was fourth.

The race begun under safety car, this decision taken after Turn 1 had to be modified on safety grounds. Just as he did in Monaco on May 9, Buemi soon set the pace and built up a lead of a handful of seconds, which meant he was able to run the race as he pleased. He richly deserved the haul of 28 points, which means not only does he jump up into second place in the drivers’ classification, but above all, he has closed the gap to the leader to just five points.

“It has been a great day so hopefully we can repeat it tomorrow,” Buemi said.

“It is going to be a tight fight again, but I am happy with what we did today, so we just need to look at the data and try to achieve the same thing tomorrow.”

Lucas di Grassi scored the bonus points for fastest lap. Having started third on the grid, the Audi Sport ABT driver had to concentrate more on defending his position from his direct rival in the title fight, than on attacking those in front of him.

There were some truly exciting moments in the duel between the two Brazilians, with Piquet trying to make the most of the FanBoost and di Grassi grittily defending, although it was not enough to prevent Jean-Eric Vergne getting past. The Scuderia Ferrari test driver, in his Andretti car, started from fifth, but was one of the fastest in the race, managing to pass both Brazilians.

Jerome D’Ambrosio came home second, racking up his second front running finish in the championship. Dragon Racing’s Belgian driver started from the front row and produced a really impeccable drive, taking a result that’s very important for the team which is still fighting for the runner-up slot in the teams’ classification.

Of the other points finishers, Sam Bird came home sixth, getting the better of fellow countryman, Oliver Turvey, the best of the five rookies, who took a strong ninth place. The remaining points finishers were all French: Prost seventh, Duval eighth and Sarrazin tenth. Just outside the points was Switzerland’s Simona de Silvestro, whose eleventh place was the best result for a woman driver this season.

Tomorrow therefore we have the final race of the championship, which will decide the drivers’ title. Yesterday, six of them were in with a chance of being crowned the very first Formula E champion, but now it’s down to just three: Piquet, Buemi and di Grassi. Piquet starts with a five point advantage over his e.dams-Renault rival, while Audi Sport ABT’s Brazilian faces a 13 point deficit: with 30 points to play for, anything can still happen.