The ABB FIA Formula E Championship will take to the streets of Marrakesh, Morocco on Saturday, 29 February, for round five of the 2019/20 season. The 2.971 kilometre long circuit comprises 12 corners, beginning by following the Circuit International Automobile Moulay El Hassan before joining the city streets of Marrakesh. Located alongside the centuries-old Marrakesh Wall, the race takes place just a few minutes from the medina and world-famous souks.

Last time out

In the previous edition of the Marrakesh E-Prix in January 2019, Jerome d’Ambrosio sprinted to victory in a dramatic last lap dash to the finish, after a late safety car bunched up the pack following a collision between BMW i ANDRETTI MOTORSPORT pairing Antonio Felix Da Costa and Alexander Sims. D’Ambrosio started down the field in tenth, but steadily progressed up the ranks to find himself sat behind the leading BMW duo.

With less than ten minutes left on the countdown clock, Da Costa and Sims looked set to bring home a one-two for the team, but it wasn’t to be. Sims - who was on the tail of his team mate for the duration of the race - pulled alongside Da Costa into the braking zone of Turn 7 in an attempt to snatch the lead. Both drivers locked-up and touched with neither making the corner. The coming together and slow recovery back to the racing line dropped Sims to fourth. But Da Costa came off worse with his race ending parked-up in the run-off area after contact with the barrier.

With the cars lined-up in close formation, the safety car pulled in as the clock hit zero – leaving one lap to the chequered flag. Running wide over the kerb in the final corner – d’Ambrosio gave the fans a grandstand finish with Robin Frijns chasing him to the line. Frijns was joined on the podium by Envision Virgin Racing team mate Sam Bird.

Current standings

The first four rounds of the 2019/20 season have so far produced four different winners: Sam Bird (Envision Virgin Racing), Alexander Sims and Maximilian Günther (both BMW i ANDRETTI MOTORSPORT) and the most recent one Mitch Evans (Panasonic Jaguar Racing). Stoffel Vandoorne (Mercedes-Benz EQ Formula E Team) led the driver championship standings before heading to round four, but not scoring any points in Mexico City dropped him to fourth place. Evans has now taken up the top spot, just one point ahead of Sims. Antonio Felix Da Costa’s two second places from Santiago and Mexico City mean he is now rounding out the top three.

BMW i ANDRETTI MOTORSPORT remain the team with the highest number of points and keep the top spot of the team championship standings. The good result of Evans means that Panasonic Jaguar Racing now follow in second while Mercedes-Benz is third. With both drivers (Da Costa and Jean-Eric Vergne) scoring points in Mexico City, reigning team champions DS TECHEETAH moved up to fourth place.

Rookies Return

For the third time in succession, Marrakesh will host an in-season rookie test on the Sunday following the race (1 March). Open to all drivers who do not hold an eLicence, this year will again see an exciting mixture of up-and-coming youngsters and proven racers from other forms of motor sport. The list of talents taking to the Marrakesh track the day after the E-Prix has been revealed recently and can be found here. The test day will be broken into two sessions, with a morning run taking place from 10:00 - 13:00 and an afternoon session between 14:00 - 17:00.

Circuit map:

Championship standings:

Driver Championship standings

Team Championship standings