Lucas Di Grassi was overjoyed that he was able to turn his 22nd starting position into points in a manic Santiago E-Prix.
The Brazilian crashed in qualifying, as Di Grassi got it all wrong at Turn 9 which forced him to start at the rear of the field.
Di Grassi then carefully manoeuvred his way through the carnage to ensure that he finished in the points during the race.
“It was absolutely fantastic race for us,” said Lucas di Grassi. “I'm completely exhausted, but overjoyed to have moved up to seventh place from the second last row of the grid. I’m very proud of the entire team and Audi it feels like a win today.”
Teammate Daniel Abt also had a difficult qualifying session. The German worked his way forward from 13th on the grid to eighth in the race.
But a 30-second time penalty subsequently imposed on him for causing a collision dropped him back to 14th. Team Principal Allan McNish was satisfied with his team's performance in Santiago, but understand there is still work to do.
“Today it was a real street fight,” said McNish. “After a difficult qualifying session, we all knew that it was going to be a tough race for us. But, once again the team fought its way back.
"The fact that Lucas was able to move up to seventh was impressive. It’s a pity that Daniel was penalised for one of the many incidents that occurred today.
"It was a tough race weekend for us, but we’re taking important points with us from Santiago and are already looking forward to the next race in Mexico, but we know that we need do better so we don't get caught up in any of these incidents.”
