The second round of the inaugural FIA Formula E Championship took place on the streets of Putrajaya in Malaysia this weekend with the Sparco name at the forefront of the action.

 

Qualifying for the all-electric racing series saw tremendous performances from the Sparco backed Dragon Racing squad as Oriol Servia finished in second place. However, that runner-up position was elevated to pole position after the provisional pole sitter, Nico Prost, had a grid penalty applied from the dramatic opening race of the new series in China.

 

It was an all-Sparco front row, as Virgin Racing’s Sam Bird moved up into second place on the grid after all penalties were imposed. With all eyes on the front of the pack, Bird took control of the Formula E Putrajaya ePrix from the start and never looked back, winning by an eventual 4.175s margin.

 

Sparco are Official Technical Wear Partner for the Virgin Racing Formula E Team so took delight in sharing the team’s maiden Formula E victory on Saturday.  It also represented the second consecutive podium for Bird in the exciting new series and sees him second in the overall driver standings after the first two rounds. 

 

Bird’s team-mate Jaime Alguersuari finished ninth in the race but set the quickest lap in the Putrajaya street race to secure an additional two points for the team. Virgin Racing now has 44 points and sits second in in the Team Championship.

 

The next round of the championship takes place in mid-December at Punta del Este in Uruguay.

 

Sparco’s Motorsport Manager Daniela Vignale said: “Sparco is privileged to be involved in the FIA Formula E Championship and to be part of this exciting motorsport series. Following the success and drama of Beijing, in which we were pleased to finish on the podium with our partners Virgin Racing and Sam Bird, we were keen to see what we could accomplish in Malaysia. Qualifying already delivered great results with Oriol Servia starting on pole with Sam in second place. We knew that our guys would fight hard in the race itself, and so it proved, with Sam going on to take a commanding win – in real style – wearing Sparco overalls. Virgin Racing are now second in the team’s standings and Sam is second overall in the drivers table so we can be very satisfied with how this start to our Formula E campaign. Congratulations to Virgin Racing and to Sam on a fantastic result!”