This month in history: 2017 New-York E-Prix!

DS Virgin come first on its début in the Big Apple! 

With the 2023-2024 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship set to conclude later this month, its recent trip to the United States for a double-header in Portland – where Jean-Eric Vergne (DS PENSKE) secured a pole position and a third-place finish – provided the perfect opportunity to look back on the first time the all-electric series came to New-York, and more specifically Brooklyn, in 2017. At the time, DS Automobiles ran the DS Virgin FE Team with Virgin Racing, and had only won a single race in the championship, secured by Sam Bird at the 2016 Buenos Aires E-Prix. However, Sam Bird would prove to be the man in form at this first racing weekend in the Big Apple, set against the stunning backdrop of the New York skyline.

Although his team-mate Alex Lynn caused quite a stir on his début by grabbing pole position on day one, Bird emerged victorious in the opening race after taking the lead on lap sixteen of the scheduled forty three laps. The following day, he made history in the series by converting pole position into a second consecutive win in his Total-backed DSV-02. DS Automobiles, alongside its various technical partners but always backed by the TotalEnergies group, has since amassed forty-eight podium finishes, including sixteen race wins, in this incredibly competitive championship and has no intention of resting on its laurels…