Dennis dominates from Vergne to win first Diriyah E-Prix

Jake Dennis cruised to a comfortable first win of his Formula E title defence in the opening race of the Diriyah double-header.

From third on the grid in Saudi Arabia, Dennis moved into the lead after passing two-time champion Jean-Eric Vergne after the latter took his first attack mode, although the Frenchman cycled back to the lead quickly as Andretti's Dennis took his first activation.

The race then settled down into Dennis, leading Vergne and Mitch Evans of Jaguar, who squeaked by ex-Formula 1 driver Vergne for second.

Evans then made an overtaking attempt on leader Dennis, but overshot his braking point and as Vergne later got back into second place with a move on the Kiwi.

On the final lap of the first race, Evans threw away a podium with Dennis going onto win by 13 seconds from Vergne and Nick Cassidy in third.

In his second race back in FE, Nyck de Vries could only manage 17th.