Formula E: Cassidy on the podium, Evans takes title hit

It was a weekend of feast or famine for the two New Zealanders competing in ABB Formula E; Mitch Evans and Nick Cassidy.

The two racers endured mixed fortunes during the weekend’s London E-Prix double header, each recording strong results in the opening race before slumping to DNFs in the weekend closer.

Evans’ DNF are a significant blow to his championship hopes. While he actually moved up in the championship order to second (by virtue of two DNFs for rival Edoardo Mortara), he is now 36 points behind series leader Stoffel Vandoorne.

The weekend opened with a third-place finish for Cassidy and a fifth for Evans. The pairing initially finished fourth and sixth, but were promoted one spot post-race after the series penalised Nyck de Vries over excessive blocking.

Victory went to Jake Dennis, who led from lights to flag, as Vandoorne and Cassidy filled the podium. With Dennis and Vandoorne well up the road, Cassidy’s battle with de Vries in the dying laps was the biggest battle as the chequered flag loomed.

Officialdom decided that de Vries’ defensive driving was excessive, subsequently dropping him to seventh. Evans had been poised for a seventh-place finish, only to pass a fading Maximilian Gunther late and then benefit from de Vries’ penalty.

Both Evans and Cassidy appeared set for another strong race earlier this morning, only for a lap-one skirmish and mechanical dramas to side-line the two former Toyota Racing Series winners.

Starting from seventh, Cassidy’s race ended on lap one following contact with another car.

Evans meanwhile started down in 14th. In spite of his grid slot, the Kiwi surged through the field as one of the quickest cars on track. He progressed all the way to fourth, one spot ahead of title rival Vandoorne.

But things came undone on lap 35; Evans slowing and pulling off the track with a mystery brake issue. He was able to reset the car and get it going again, but elected to pull out of the race after deeming the car to be “not raceable”.

The result puts Evans in a bind ahead of the 2021-’22 ABB Formula E championship finale, which will be held at Seoul in South Korea on August 13-14.

Evans is still a mathematical chance for the title. Speaking to Motorsport.com, he concedes that it’s effectively a must-win weekend.  

“I obviously need to win the race, probably race one and then have another go at winning the next race. So we’ll be working hard to try and make sure we’re going there with the right set-up and the right approach,” he said.

“We’re fighters – as you’ve seen in some of my races, I don’t give up, the team definitely doesn’t. They want it bad, and all we can do is go there with the mentality to try and win the race and then leave it up to the rest.

“For now, it hurts, and I just want to get to Seoul and try and capitalise on it. But we need to do our homework and go there with the right approach.”