Sebastien Buemi registered his first win of the season in an eventful New York E-Prix on Saturday as championship leader Jean-Eric Vergne failed to make it to the podium after suffering a late crash. 

Pole-sitter Buemi from Switzerland raced away in his Nissan e.dams but was forced to thwart attacks from Alexander Lynn and then Mitch Evans to clinch his first Formula E win since the season three Berlin stop.

After his emphatic victory in the incident-filled race, Buemi said, "Yeah it's been a long time and I tell you I'm quite emotional because it's been over two years and also this win is really for the team chief, Jean-Paul (Driot) is not doing so well so really this win is for him, I really wanted to win and I'm really happy it happened today."

Lynn was forced to retire after his Panasonic Jaguar was slowed by a technical snag in the first half of the race but Evans continued to push the race leader on in his Jaguar to finish second for the second race in a row, keeping his slim title hopes alive.

BMW Andretti driver Antonio Felix da Costa bagged the final podium spot followed by teammate Alexander Sims in fourth place and Audi Sport Abt pilot Lucas di Grassi in fifth.

A prolific Vergne, looking for his second straight Formula E title, entered the penultimate race of the season with a chance to seal the deal but failed after a late run-in with former Formula One driver Felipe Massa with one lap remaining. 

The DS Techeetah driver saw his championship lead cut to 22 points with di Grassi, Evans and Buemi keeping their title-winning chances mathematically possible with just today's (July 14) final race remaining. 

(Cover image: Race winner Sebastien Buemi of Switzerland and Toyota Gazoo Racing celebrates on the podium at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, June 17, 2018. /VCG Photo)