Sebastien Buemi and his Renault-powered e.dams fought off a furious challenge from Lucas di Grassi of Audi Sport ABT to claim his fourth FIA Formula E Championship win of the season in Monaco on Saturday and extend his points lead to 15.

Buemi made a perfect start from his first pole position of the campaign and quickly established a comfortable lead over Brazil's di Grassi, who in turn was easing away from compatriot Nelson Piquet Jr, driving for China's NextEV NIO.

Piquet was locked in a battle with Jean-Eric Vergne of China's Team Techcheetah, who swarmed all over him. The Frenchman was clearly anxious to make a move and stop the front two from getting away, so he tried an ambitious move around the outside of the Turn 3 hairpin.

Vergne attempted to overtake Piquet and their cars touched wheels before Vergne smashed into the barriers. His car was too badly damaged for him to continue.

Piquet managed to drag his ride back to the pits with minimal delay after the contact and rejoined in fourth place, which he held to the checkered flag.

Formula E was launched in 2012 and the first global race was staged in Beijing in 2014. The competition showcases electric cars, which look like their gasoline-fueled Formula One big brothers but are virtually silent and emissions free.

A total of 20 drivers from 10 teams take part, and there are 12 races in the championship series.

Nio, currently sixth in the team standings, already makes a supercar that is challenging the US-made Tesla, and is planning to unveil both an SUV and a regular car. Techeetah, in fourth place, is under ownership of SECA, a leading Chinese sports marketing and management company headquartered in Shanghai.

Vergne sits fourth in the driver standings while Piquet is eighth.

Next stop on the championship is the Qatar Airways Paris ePrix on May 20, which di Grassi won last year.

In a unique initiative, Formula E fans vote for their favorite driver through social media. Votes are tallied before each race, and drivers receive a corresponding boost of power for their electric motors, to be used at a specific point in the competition.

The cars can accelerate to 100 kp/h in three seconds, with a maximum top speed of 225 kp/h.

Initially, all Formula E teams were allotted identical cars based on a Renault design, but this season entrants can introduce their own drivetrains.

Some 18,000 fans packed into the grandstands for Saturday's race, which utilized much of the course that will be used for the May 28 Formula One Grand Prix.

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