DS Virgin considers collision a closed book

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Alex Tai, Team Principal of DS Virgin Racing, has reiterated his choice of allowing both drivers to race, despite Jose Maria Lopez and Sam Bird banging wheels during the Berlin ePrix, causing the latter to lose positions.

Lap 17 saw the duo break the golden rule of ‘don’t hit your team-mate as Bird attempted to pass Lopez around the outside of turn one. The move failed to materialise as a minor collision sent Bird towards the barriers, losing two positions as a result.

DS Virgin break the golden rule as @sambirdracing and @pechito37 clash #BerlinePrix pic.twitter.com/bOAVoRVIN5

— FIA Formula E (@FIAformulaE) 11 June 2017

Speaking after the race, Tai spoke of his instructions to the team that both drivers are free to challenge each other, but expects both Lopez and Bird to keep it clean.

“We have to remain calm and also understand what the instructions are from me, and my instructions are that the drivers can race,” said Tai.

“They’ve turned up to race, that’s what they’ve been trained to do and that’s where their proficiency is. That’s what the fans expect and that’s what the spectators here expect.

“So you’re going to have incidents, but I do expect them to not touch each other and provide each other with respect. I have one driver who has apologised for causing the collision, both drivers have shaken hands and it’s over.”

Putting the incident aside, the DS Virgin Team Principal was pleased at both drivers’ efforts in saving energy throughout the 46 lap race, considering the advantage that Renault e.dams has over the competition.

“Both drivers saved energy as best as could possibly be done. We have a tiny disadvantage with performance in terms of energy consumption in our car versus the Renault powertrain, that’s evident in where we finished. 100km but only 20 seconds, we’re talking fractions.”

Tai finished by applauding the efforts being put into the DS Virgin machinery when asked if the team can produce a strong result in New York.

“Absolutely. I back our team of engineers, I back the support we’re getting from DS Performance and I back our drivers.”

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Image courtesy of DS Virgin Racing

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