Tom Dillmann became the 11th driver to score points on his Formula E debut following a solid drive in the Qatar Airways Paris ePrix.
The Frenchman was drafted in to the Venturi line up for his home race as a stand-in for its regular driver Maro Engel, who had a clashing DTM commitment.
Dillmann, whose only previous experience of the all-electric single-seater came in the shakedown session for the Mexico City ePrix, drove a well-controlled race to bank four points for eighth place.
“I had everything to learn at the start of the day, so it was quite intense, but nevertheless everything went quite smooth,” he said. “I built up step by step every lap. I only had a 50km test before, so that was quite tough to jump in against guys who have been racing here for three years.”
Starting from 15th, Dillmann spent the first half of the race fending off the advances of title challenger Lucas di Grassi, while in the closing stages he went wheel-to-wheel with Season 1 champion Nelson Piquet Jr.
“The race was really good fun, I had some good battles with di Grassi and Piquet and I managed the energy well, which was a first for me, so to come here for the first time and take four points is quite good.”