Formula E: Bird wins second night race in Diriyah after horrror crash for Lynn
Sam Bird became the only driver to have won a race in all seven seasons of Formula E with victory on the second night of the Diriyah E-Prix.
But celebrations were overshadowed by a serious crash involving fellow Brit Alex Lynn, 27, which resulted in a red flag and a premature end to round two of the all-electric series.
Bird, 34, was looking set for his first victory in a Jaguar having pulled away from pole-sitter Robin Frijns after an entertaining battle that had seen both former Envision Virgin team-mates take turns at leading.
Further down the field, Lynn was attempting an overtake down the back straight where several cars had already come together, but clipped a rear wheel of Mitch Evans' Jaguar.
Lynn's Mahindra overturned at speed, before skidding off the Riyadh Street Circuit and into a barrier. Evans rushed to help the stricken driver and the race was halted.
After anxious scenes in which Lynn was laid out next to his broken vehicle, Mahindra Racing confirmed via their twitter account that he was "conscious, talking and on his way to hospital for checks".
In a later statement on the social media channel, the team confirmed that Lynn had been given the all-clear by staff at the King Khaled Hospital in Riyadh: "Following precautionary hospital checks, Alex Lynn has been discharged. He will be back racing with the team in Rome [April 10]."
For Bird, 34, it was his first win in a Jaguar in just his second race for the British marque after six years with Envision Virgin.
Speaking from the pit lane before learning details of Lynn's accident, Bird said: "I was a bit emotional in the car. It was a big move and a big step for me moving away from what was my family in Envision to join Jaguar.
"They’ve welcomed me with open arms and I’m pleased to deliver this win. The whole point of the opening two rounds was to come here and score decent points and if you’d said I’d come away with 25 points, I’d have taken that.
"Robin was so respectful and a pleasure to race against which is exactly what you’d expect for a driver of his calibre.”
Frijns took a creditable second place, holding off DS Techeetah's Antonio Felix Da Costa, who was promoted to third after team-mate Jean-Eric Vergne received a 24-second post-race time penalty for failing to use his second attack mode.
Diriyah E-Prix Race 2 Result
Pos | Driver | Nat | Team | Pts |
1 | Sam Bird | GBR | Jaguar Racing | 25 |
2 | Robin Frijns | NED | Envision Virgin Racing | 22 |
3 | Antonio Felix Da Costa | POR | DS Techeetah | 15 |
4 | Sergio Sette Camara | BRA | Dragon/Penske Autosport | 12 |
5 | Nico Mueller | SWI | Dragon/Penske Autosport | 10 |
6 | Oliver Turvey | GBR | Nio 333 FE Team | 8 |
7 | Oliver Rowland | GBR | Nissan E.Dams | 6 |
8 | Lucas Di Grassi | BRA | Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler | 4 |
9 | Nyck De Vries | NED | Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team | 3 |
10 | Pascal Wehrlein | GER | Tag Heuer Porsche Formula E Team | 1 |