Motorsport: Evans 14th in opener after qualifying mistake

Mitch Evans in action during last season's round in New York. Photo / Getty Images

Kiwi racer Mitch Evans has finished the opening Formula E race of the season on the streets of Hong Kong in 14th place.

But the Panasonic Jaguar Racing factory driver will be ruing a team timing blunder that cost him a chance of scoring points which saw him start the race from the back of the grid.

Evans showcased his team's improved speed on the streets of Hong Kong with their power train much more competitive in their second season in the category but it proved irrelevant after a mistake in qualifying that resulted in the New Zealander not being able to record a flying lap.

He started the race 19th.

It was a major disappointment given the speed Evans demonstrated during free practice 2 – he posted the fastest time of anyone in that session.

The 23-year-old made a reasonable start and made his way up to 16th by the third corner but an incident in front of him left the track blocked by Andre Lotterer's Techeetah and the red flag was brought out.

After a lengthy delay the race re-started under safety car conditions.

Evans made a few passes shortly after the re-start and picked up a spot or two as some of the front runners ran into problems.

Brit Sam Bird overcame a drive-through penalty to win the race while former Formula 1 stars Jean-Eric Vergne and Nick Heidfeld completed the podium spots in their Techeetah and Mahindra cars respectively.

Defending series champion Lucas di Grassi had to pit early with a damaged right rear tyre and was forced to try and extend the energy life out of his Audi through the second half of the race.

Evans spent the closing stages of the race all on his own in 14th with a gap to the cars in front and a healthy margin to those behind him.

Teammate Nelson Piquet Jr finished fifth to record the first points of the season for the British manufacturer.

A second race in Hong Kong will run on Sunday.