Buemi tops field in Buenos Aires

Pulse-pounding electric motor racing will light up the Puerto Madero circuit for a third straight year in the FIA Formula E Championship's Buenos Aires ePrix on Saturday.

As the only race featured in all three seasons of the championship series since its debut in 2014, the Buenos Aires ePrix, in a suburb of the Argentine capital, will showcase 10 teams in the early phase of the 12-race season.

After winning the first two races in Hong Kong and Marrakesh, defending champion Sebastien Buemi of Renault e.dams is the favorite to triumph here, while the likes of Mahindra Racing's Felix Rosenqvist and Sam Bird of DS Virgin Racing will pose legitimate threats.

Historically, the Buenos Aires race is never short of drama.

In the inaugural season, Antonio Felix da Costa, now with Team Andretti, clinched his only Formula E victory from seventh on the grid for the now defunct Team Aguri.

Last season, Buemi rallied all the way from the back of the starting field to pull out a thrilling victory.

Local favorite Jose Maria Lopes, current WTCC champion and DS Virgin Racing driver, will enjoy enthusiastic support from his home fans after a disappointing start to his debut Formula E season.

Meanwhile, three teams backed by Chinese investors, NextEV NIO, TECHEETAH and Faraday Future, are also forces to be reckoned with.

NextEV NIO is the evolution of the team that started off as Team China Racing and carried Nelson Piquet Jr to the inaugural drivers' championship.

Faraday Future is a Chinese-backed American start-up tech company focused on the development of intelligent electric vehicles. It is set to release its first production car in 2017.

TECHEETAH is a new team funded by China Media Capital group for this season, taking over the entry previously held by Team Aguri.

The team has employed experienced driver Jean-Eric Vergne and WTCC race winner Ma Qinghua for its first entry into the world of electric motorsport.

chenxiangfeng@chinadaily.com.cn