2016 Long Beach ePrix
The 2016 Long Beach ePrix (formally the 2016 Faraday Future Long Beach ePrix) was a Formula E electric car race held on 2 April 2016, before a crowd of 17,000 spectators, at the Long Beach Street Circuit, in Long Beach, California. It was the sixth round of the 2015–16 Formula E Championship, and the final Long Beach ePrix. The 41-lap race was won by Lucas di Grassi for Audi Sport ABT from second place. Venturi driver Stéphane Sarrazin finished second, with Di Grassi's teammate Daniel Abt third.
| 2016 Long Beach ePrix | |||||
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Race 6 of 10 of the 2015–16 Formula E Championship
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Layout of the Long Beach Formula E street circuit | |||||
| Race details | |||||
| Date | April 2, 2016 | ||||
| Official name | 2016 Faraday Future Long Beach ePrix | ||||
| Location | Long Beach Street Circuit, Long Beach, California | ||||
| Course | Street circuit | ||||
| Course length | 2.131 km (1.324 miles) | ||||
| Distance | 41 laps, 87.37 km (54,29 miles) | ||||
| Weather | Temperatures reaching up to 77 °F (25 °C); wind speeds approaching speeds of 12.7 miles per hour (20.4 km/h) | ||||
| Pole position | |||||
| Driver |
| Virgin | |||
| Time | 57.261 | ||||
| Fastest lap | |||||
| Driver | Sébastien Buemi | e.Dams-Renault | |||
| Time | 57.938 (lap record) on lap 28 | ||||
| Podium | |||||
| First | Audi Sport ABT | ||||
| Second | Venturi | ||||
| Third | Audi Sport ABT | ||||
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Lap leaders | |||||
Sam Bird of Virgin began from the pole position after the fastest driver in qualifying Team Aguri's António Félix da Costa was sent to the rear of the grid for an illegal tire pressure. Bird led for the first 11 laps until he was overtaken by di Grassi on the 12h lap. Di Grassi remained at the front of the field through the mandatory pit stop phase to switch into a second car, but his four-second lead was reduced to nothing when the safety car was deployed on lap 35 after NextEV driver Nelson Piquet Jr. crashed. However, di Grassi kept the lead at the rolling restart to take his second victory of the season, and the third of his career.
The result promoted di Grassi to the lead of the Drivers' Championship with 101 points, after previous leader Sébastien Buemi of e.Dams-Renault scored no points in Long Beach. Bird and Jérôme d'Ambrosio for Dragon maintained third and fourth. Sarrazin's second-place finish moved him from eighth to fifth. In the Teams' Championship, Audi Sport ABT reduced e.Dams-Renault's lead to six points, and Dragon fell from second to third with four races left in the season.