Pretoria, South Africa – 29 January 2024: Nick Cassidy won the 2024 Diriyah E-Prix for Jaguar TCS Racing, in his third race for the British team. The 29-year-old has achieved a hat-trick of podiums since he joined Jaguar TCS Racing at the start of the season.
Nick lined up third on the grid after a successful Qualifying session saw him secure a place in the semi-final of the Duels. After holding position at the start of the round three race, by the fifth lap Nick moved into the lead of the 2024 Diriyah E-Prix after his podium opponents took their first ATTACK MODE decisions. For the next phase of the race, the pace was frenetic at the front with Nick and Envision Racing’s Robin Frijns, Jaguar’s customer team, pulling out a lead on the rest of the pack. A crucial moment in the race was Nick building a sufficient gap for his second ATTACK MODE which meant he could come out ahead of Frijns and maintain the lead of the race. In the final few laps, Nick and the team delivered an efficient energy strategy, ensuring Frijns was unable to make a move. On the last lap, under the lights, Nick secured the fastest lap to add one more point to his tally for round three.
Mitch Evans rounded out the points with a determined tenth-place finish, after starting in P13 on the grid. In the 36-lap energy-rich race, Mitch looked for opportunities to move his way through the field with his Jaguar I-TYPE 6. With limited overtaking opportunities on the Diriyah Circuit, and being in the middle of the pack, this proved challenging, but Mitch and the team worked together to get the Kiwi up into the final points position. Despite crossing the finish line in 11th place, an FIA investigation on Andretti’s Jake Dennis for overtaking under a yellow flag promoted Mitch back into tenth place.
With the dust now settled on the 2024 Diriyah double-header, Jaguar TCS Racing are top of the Teams’ Standings in the 2024 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship with a 31-point lead.
Nick’s winning performance also elevates him to the top of the Drivers’ Standings with 57 points, while Mitch is in fifth with 21 points.
James Barclay, Jaguar TCS Racing Team Principal: “A truly fantastic result from the team. That was an incredibly fast-paced race. We knew it was going to be a quick, energy rich race and it was going to come down to the attack strategy. Nick drove a brilliant race, calm, composed and absolutely peerless when he needed to be. It was a very smart strategy and decision making – both from the team and from Nick. Overall, I’m incredibly proud of how the team have bonded together under pressure this weekend. To be leading both the Teams’ and the Drivers’ Championships is a fantastic foundation at this point of the season. With a gap to São Paulo we can really analyse where we can make further steps forward, as always in Formula E you can’t be complacent, we have to keep working hard. For now though, I’m really looking forward to celebrating this one with everyone back at base.”
Mitch Evans, Jaguar TCS Racing Driver #9: “We’ve been one of the quickest cars since we got to Mexico, and Nick has done a great job with consistency, so full credit to him for the win. On my side, the results don’t reflect our pace, so I’m hoping for a change in momentum. With now over six weeks until we race again, we will spend time as a team perfecting our preparation, so we’ll be ready for the fight at the São Paulo E-Prix. The Brazilian race holds great memories for me and for the team, as my first GEN3 podium and the team’s first 1-3 result last season.”
Nick Cassidy, Jaguar TCS Racing Driver #37: “‘I feel unreal. It’s an absolute dream start to the season. The team has been perfect and the everyone at Jaguar TCS Racing have been working so hard to give me such a quick and efficient race car. Three podiums in three races and one of them a win is such a great feeling. This is Formula E though and you don’t know what’s going to happen from one race to the next, so we’ll keep pushing into São Paulo.’
Round four of the 2024 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship takes place in São Paulo, Brazil on Saturday 16 March.
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Sport Trivia: Ghana boycotted the Olympic Games in 1976, in protest at the participation of which country? Answer: New Zealand – The 1976 Games were held in Montreal, Canada. The Ghanaian team, along with almost 30 other African nations, joined in a boycott of the Games to protest at New Zealand\’s All Blacks rugby team having toured South Africa under apartheid.