Champagne and then real pain as birthday boy Daniel Abt stripped of Hong Kong E-Prix
German driver disqualified for a technical infringement after finishing first at Central Harbourfront in dramatic race
There was champagne for birthday boy Daniel Abt at the HKT Hong Kong E-Prix on Sunday after he had crossed the finishing line first – and then came the real pain when the German was disqualified from the race for a technical infringement.
Talk about having your party spoiled.
The Audi Sport Abt Schaffler driver turned 25 on Sunday and had initially been handed the perfect present when Edoardo Mortara (Venturi Formula E Team) – leader for much of the race - gift-wrapped it for his opponent by spinning with two laps to go.
Abt had been tucked in behind the Italian-Swiss ace for much of the 43 laps to that point, and from that moment cruised over the next two laps to take the victory from Swedish driver Felix Rosenqvist (Mahindra Racing) with a bitterly disappointed Mortara third.
But the drama didn’t end there. There was an alert that Abt’s team was being investigated for an infringement – which he brushed off at the post-race press conference.
But word came through about three hours after the race had ended that a decision had actually gone against him.
According to the Audi website: “Technical stewards had noted a mismatch between part numbers in the technical passport and the car.
