Buenos Aires, Jan 11 (IANS): A suspension failure leading to a crash forced India’s Karun Chandhok to retire from the FIA Formula E race, here Saturday.

However, his Mahindra Racing team-mate Bruno Senna fought back to finish in fifth position after making up 14 positions over the course of the race.

Chandhok was running 10th when the right rear suspension of his car failed just before his pit stop which sent him into the wall and out of the race.

The resulting safety car brought a flurry of cars into the pit lane, including Senna. However, when he left to return to the circuit he was held at the end of the pit lane on a red light, but the Brazilian made positions to eventually finish fifth with some of the front-runners retiring.

Earlier, Chandhok finished fourth and sixth in the two free practice sessions. He qualified 10th, but Senna’s qualifying run was disrupted by a red flag, forcing him to start on the back row of the grid.

“I was right up there in the first half of the race and looking good for a very strong result. However, the right rear suspension failed on my car which ruined the race," Chandhok said.

“I had taken that corner in the same way all day, so it’s a little hard to understand and while it’s great to see Bruno making the most of the pace, it’s a shame because we could have been up there with him," he added.

“Overall, I’m not feeling great about the race, but we’re going to move on and look forward to racing in Miami (in the next round).”