Rosenqvist regained the lead but was required to conserve electrical energy because he made a pit stop a lap earlier than other drivers.
In February 2016, Stéphane Roux, the chief organiser of the World Touring Car Championship (WTCC), announced to the local press that Formula E was eager to hold a race on the streets of Marrakesh in the "near future".
[4] The Marrakesh ePrix was later confirmed as part of Formula E's 2016–17 schedule in September 2016 by the FIA World Motor Sport Council.
[5] It was the inaugural running of the race as part of the FIA Formula E Championship, and the first time that the series had visited the African continent.
[6] The Marrakesh ePrix was the second of 12 single-seater electric car races of the 2016–17 Championship and was held on 12 November 2016 at the Circuit Moulay El Hassan.
[7] Prior to the ePrix, Formula One had visited Morocco in 1958 for the Moroccan Grand Prix at the Ain-Diab Circuit in Casablanca and the country has held WTCC races since 2009.
[10] Mahindra driver Felix Rosenqvist stated that his objective for the race was to continue the momentum his team had built at the season's previous round and wanted to extract the maximum amount possible from his car as soon as he could even at the cost of still learning slightly more about it.
[12] Nelson Piquet Jr. felt it would be a fast circuit because it was purpose-built for motor racing and other series had visited the track before.
[13] Heidfeld stated that the track layout would mean the drivers would be challenged on electrical energy management and there would a high chance of a full course yellow flag being shown or a safety car being deployed because of the large amount of trackside barriers.
Buemi, Vergne, Félix da Costa, Jérôme d'Ambrosio, Rosenqvist, Mitch Evans, Piquet, and Stéphane Sarrazin rounded out the session's top ten drivers.
Evans spun and ran wide at the first turn late in the session, and López damaged his car's suspension after colliding with the turn 11 barrier,[17] causing him to spend most of practice in the pit lane for repairs,[18] but further damage was caused with another hit in the session's closing period.
The fastest five overall competitors in the four groups participated in a "Super Pole" session with one driver on the track at any time going out in reverse order from fifth to first.
[22] His teammate Abt was second quickest in the group, ahead of di Grassi, Maro Engel (Venturi), and Duval, who ran wide on his timed reduced power lap.
[21] Rosenqvist immediately ran on full power and was the fastest driver in the fourth group, ahead of Bird, who equalled Vergne's pace at first, but then his rear tyre made contact with the wall, losing him time.
[21] Piquet was the first driver to attempt his lap in super pole and heavily locked his tyres in turn nine and ran over some kerbs,[22] as well as grazing the wall,[23] qualifying fourth.
[22] Vergne was unable to set a lap time because an operational error by his team caused him to miss the 30-second period to exit the pit lane and participate.
[21] Hence, Rosenqvist won his and Mahindra's first pole position in Formula E.[24] After qualifying, Buemi incurred a five-place grid penalty because his car's fire extinguisher was 3.25 kg (7.2 lb) underweight after it had been emptied from a possible leak.
[26] The rest of the grid lined up after penalties as Abt, Prost, Buemi, Turvey, Frijns, Félix da Costa, Heidfeld, di Grassi, López, Engel, Sarrazin, Evans, d'Ambrosio, Ma, Duval and Carroll.
[1] At the end of the first lap, Rosenqvist led followed by: Bird, Piquet, Vergne, Abt, Prost, Buemi, Turvey, Frijns and Félix da Costa.
Buemi overtook teammate Prost on the outside at turn seven to move into sixth place on the third lap,[29][34] as Heidfeld went wide, allowing di Grassi to pass him for 11th position, and pulled away from the traffic jam.
By the twelfth lap, Buemi had more electrical energy available and closed up to Piquet, overtaking him on the inside for fourth position at the seventh turn.
Turvey had passed Di Grassi but the latter retook sixth place soon after and started to draw closer to teammate Abt.
[34] On the final lap, after Piquet locked his brakes, Evans ran wide, drove off the circuit, and hit a trackside barrier; he was able to continue.
[37] He revealed his car did not behave as well as Buemi's, or the third-position driver, after his second free practice crash and he struggled with its balance.
[35] Rosenqvist spoke of his shock and expectation at taking his first pole position and podium finish in his second Formula E event.
He revealed his team had made the car for qualifying up to a good standard, were aware of its fast pace, and were feeling confident about next year's races.
"[39] Mahindra team principal Dilbagh Gill agreed that Buemi's presence would have delayed Vergne, or caused him to use more additional electrical energy.
"[33] e.Dams-Renault team principal Jean-Paul Driot revealed that Buemi's five-place grid penalty had been a sporting regulation safety violation, which they had no control over.
[9] e.Dams-Renault's first and fourth-place finishes extended their Teams' Championship gap over Audi Sport ABT to 38 points, although the latter tied with Mahindra.