Sebastien Buemi claimed victory in the third round of the FIA Formula E Championship as a mechanical failure dashed debutant Jean-Eric Vergne’s hopes.
The e.dams driver made a solid start from fourth on the grid before grabbing the lead following the mandatory pit stops at Uruguay’s Punta del Este circuit.
Buemi was pushed by Vergne hard in the closing stages before suspension failure saw the demise of the former Toro Rosso star.
Nelson Piquet Jnr came home in second ahead of championship leader Lucas di Grassi for Audi Sport Abt.
Polesitter Vergne fluffed his start allowing Piquet to take the lead while Buemi held third ahead of team-mate Nicolas Prost.
Despite coming under pressure from Vergne, Piquet led the early stages of the race before being passed at the hairpin by the Frenchman.
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However, Vergne’s charge used valuable engine power forcing him to pit earlier than his rivals.
As the former F1 driver pitted the Safety Car was deployed after Stephane Sarrazin crashed out with suspension failure.
This was the second appearance of the Safety Car having been called earlier due to an incident involving Malaysia winner Sam Bird and Antonio Felix da Costa.
Nick Heidfeld briefly held the lead after the round of pit stops to change cars but he was soon issued with a drive-through penalty for a pit lane infringement.
This gifted Buemi the lead with Vergne in hot pursuit from Piquet and Prost.
The race was neutralised for a third time when a crash from Matthew Brabham brought out the Safety Car with four laps remaining.
The 20-year-old had surged up to sixth position having started from the rear of the grid, but he lost control and suffered a suspension failure when his Andretti car vaulted the kerbs.
Brabham’s team-mate Vergne piled on the pressure at the restart which seemed to have the desired effect when Buemi made a mistake and cut the chicane.
However, with the lead in sight Vergne’s car slowed with a broken front suspension allowing Buemi to take the victory from Piquet and di Grassi.
Jarno Trulli ws fourth ahead of Virgin Racing’s Jaime Alguersuari, Bruno Senna and Jerome D’Ambrosio.
Oriol Servia and Heidfeld rounded out the top 10.
The championship continues with round four held at Buenos Aires in Argentina on January 10.
Result: FIA Formula E Championship, Round 3 Punta del Este
| Position | Driver | Team | Time/Gap |
| 1 | Sebastien Buemi | e.dams | 31 Laps |
| 2 | Nelson Piquet Jnr | China Racing | +0.732s |
| 3 | Lucas di Grassi | Audi Sport Abt | +2.635s |
| 4 | Jarno Trulli | Trulli | +4.163s |
| 5 | Jamie Alguersuari | Virgin Racing | +4.698s |
| 6 | Bruno Senna | Mahindra | +5.197s |
| 7 | Nicolas Prost | e.dams | +6.514s |
| 8 | Jerome D’Ambrosio | Dragon Racing | +7.567s |
| 9 | Oriol Servia | Dragon Racing | +8.646s |
| 10 | Nick Heidfeld | Venturi | +10.563s |
| 11 | Antonio Garcia | China Racing | +10.594s |
| 12 | Michela Cerruti | Trulli | +19.617s |
| 13 | Karun Chandhok | Mahindra | +54.175s |
| 14 | Jean-Eric Vergne | Andretti | Not running |
| 15 | Daniel Abt | Audi Sport Abt | +3 laps |
| 16 | Salvador Duran | Aguri | + 4 laps |
| DNF | Matthew Brabham | Andretti | Retirement (Suspension |
| DNF | Stephane Sarrazin | Venturi | Retirement (Suspension) |
| DNF | Antonio Felix da Costa | Aguri | Retirement |
| DNF | Sam Bird | Virgin Racing | Retirement |
FIA Formula E Championship Standings.
| Position | Driver | Points |
| 1 | Lucas di Grassi | 58 |
| 2 | Sebastien Buemi | 40 |
| 3 | Sam Bird | 40 |
| 4 | Nelson Piquet Jnr | 22 |
| 5 | Jerome D’Ambrosio | 22 |
| 6 | Nicolas Prost | 21 |
| 7 | Franck Montagny | 18 |
| 8 | Karun Chandhok | 18 |
| 9 | Oriol Servia | 17 |
| 10 | Jamie Alguersuari | 14 |
| 11 | Jarno Trulli | 12 |
| 12 | Charles Pic | 12 |
| 13 | Bruno Senna | 8 |
| 14 | Antonio Felix da Costa | 4 |
| 15 | Daniel Abt | 4 |
| 16 | Jean-Eric Vergne | 3 |
| 17 | Stephane Sarrazin | 2 |
| 18 | Takuma Sato | 2 |
| 19 | Nick Heifdfeld | 1 |
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