Pretoria, South Africa, 17 February 2025: An excellent recovery drive from Jaguar TCS Racing and Nick Cassidy saw the Kiwi claim his first points of the 2024/25 ABB FIA Formula E season, climbing 12 places to finish fifth, under the lights in Jeddah. Teammate Mitch Evans had also made significant progress, running in eighth with energy to spare and with a final Attack Mode to take, he and the team were eyeing the top six and a possible podium finish. Unfortunately, a hardware issue with his brake by wire system, a common component in Formula E, ended his race and meant a frustrating end to what was a promising E-Prix.
Mitch Evans and Nick Cassidy started Round 4 in P15 and P17 respectively as the result of a challenging Qualifying session. After negotiating the opening laps without trouble as the cars ahead battled for position, Cassidy and Evans made use of their Attack Mode activations – extra power and 4WD – to climb through the field and up into the top 10.
On lap 16, Nick took his second Attack Mode deployment before the rest of the grid to crucially take track position and move into the top three. Cassidy dropped to P7 in the closing stages as other cars took their second use of Attack Mode, but the highly efficient Jaguar I-TYPE 7 and trademark drive from Nick ensured he finished Round 4 in fifth position and 10 valuable points.
Teammate Mitch Evans was also making significant progress through the field. Evans had moved up from P15 into the top eight, with an energy advantage to cars ahead and his second Attack Mode deployment still to use, the final stage of the race looked very promising. Unfortunately, the brake by wire failure forced him to retire ending arguably what would have been a notable and impressive drive through the field.
Mitch Evans is P7 in the 2024/25 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship standings, with teammate Nick Cassidy in P14.
Jaguar TCS Racing sits P7 after the Jeddah E-Prix double-header, while after four rounds of the season, and one win, Jaguar lies P4 in the Manufacturers’ standings.
James Barclay, Jaguar TCS Racing Team Principal: “It’s clear that, at times, it’s been a challenging weekend for us in terms of one-lap performance. It’s how we finished that mattered though with both cars making significant progress forward with great efficiency, which shows the potential that we have as a team and with our car.
“Nick and the team delivered a fantastic drive today and his fifth-place finish, in the context of some of the issues we’ve faced this weekend, feels like a win for us. I do really feel for Mitch and his crew because they were looking incredibly strong with another great drive, he was up on energy to the cars ahead and with his final Attack Mode to go, we could all smell a top six and possible podium.
“Our plan now is to use the break as effectively as possible, particularly focussing on our one-lap pace. All of the core ingredients are there – we have great drivers, a fantastic team and strong Jaguar I-TYPE 7 in race trim – so if we can address some of the issues we’ve been facing over one lap then there is no reason why we can’t be in a really strong position for the rest of the season.”
Jaguar TCS Racing driver Nick Cassidy, #37: “Our season starts here. It’s no secret that we haven’t been where we want to be over the last few races but this past weekend the team did an incredible job to get the car back in a place to fight for strong points. It feels so good to have a solid race. We still have work to do but I’m happy with how we executed the strategy with what we had available. Our strategy team is the best in the pit lane so I have a lot of confidence because I’ve got them in my corner. We’ve got to do the work now because after Miami it’s pretty back-to-back, but I have no doubt the team will continue to push as they have done for me this weekend.”
Jaguar TCS Racing driver Mitch Evans, #9: “This weekend we had so much potential, and it would have been close because I was up on energy compared to all the guys around me. I still had an Attack Mode activation left too when I had the brake by wire issue. We’ve got work to do between now and Miami but it’s a big gap and I know we will use that wisely and try and address our deficits.”
The next round of the 2024/25 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship takes place in Homestead, Miami on Saturday, 12 April.
Spunky Chick
England is the only team in the northern hemisphere to have won the Rugby World Cup – Given the game’s origins in England, statistically southern hemisphere teams are wayyyyyyy better at rugby. In total there have been 9 Rugby World Cups. New Zealand have won 3, South Africa have won 3, Australia have won it twice, and England are the only team in the northern hemisphere to have won it. Maybe the Rugby World Cup 2023 hosted in France will be another win for a European team though!
Feral Mayhem
South Africa Proudly Celebrates Disabled Sports and Paralympics: The country has a good contribution to disabled sports and Paralympics as well. They think that sports can be played by anyone who enjoys and loves the game from their heart, irrespective of their physical form. Hence, they motivate disabled people to participate as well. One famous disabled athlete South Africa gifted the world with is Natalie du Toit.