Pretoria, South Africa – 02 April 2024: Jaguar TCS Racing took valuable points in the inaugural Tokyo E-Prix, the team’s 100th race, as Nick Cassidy delivered a calculated drive climbing up from 19th position through into 8th place at the finish. Mitch Evans finished both his and the teams’ 100th race in the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship in fifteenth after a challenging E-Prix.
Qualifying saw both Jaguar TCS Racing drivers in Group A. Nick made it through to the Duels but his fastest lap was deleted after a technical infringement, meaning he would start in P19. Mitch finished the group stages in fifth, narrowly missing out on a top four place, so his promotion into the Duels was a bittersweet moment given it was Nick who he replaced.
At the end of the Qualifying Duels Mitch was in sixth position but a later penalty, for impeding another car during the session, and the resulting three-place grid penalty, meant the 29-year-old lined up in ninth place at the Tokyo Big Sight circuit.
From his 19th place grid start Nick delivered a fantastically composed drive, supported by the team, and carved his way through the field to cross the line in an eventual ninth place. Nick was ultimately promoted to eighth place, after the Mahindra of Edoardo Mortara was disqualified after the race.
Mitch had a challenging race. After initially losing two places in the first lap, the Kiwi carefully conserved energy before starting to progress through the field but, on a circuit where overtaking was inherently challenging, he made minor contact with Robin Frijns, forcing him to return to the pits to replace the nose on his Jaguar I-TYPE 6. Mitch returned to the track in 18th position and despite the late safety car he and the team couldn’t progress much further, ultimately finishing the 35-lap race in 15th place.
Despite a challenging day in Tokyo, Jaguar TCS Racing maintain their lead in the Teams’ World Championship standings with a 17-point margin. Nick Cassidy is second in the Drivers’ World Championship, with Mitch Evans in sixth.
James Barclay, Managing Director, JLR Motorsport and Jaguar TCS Racing Team Principal: “Firstly, what an honour to be racing in Tokyo, an incredible backdrop for us to complete our 100th race in the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship. Unfortunately, it was a tough day for us with a few issues. Despite having good base performance we didn’t achieve the result we think we could have today. It was a very impressive fight back into the points for Nick and he and the team did a great job to climb into 8th from a 19th place starting position. These points are invaluable for our championship campaign.
“On Mitch’s side we really thought that we had a great opportunity to move forward from P9 but in trying to make progress he was caught out. At a circuit where overtaking was far from straightforward it didn’t work out for us this time.
“Some days you have tough races, where you don’t optimise the performance of the race
car and we had that today with the Jaguar I-TYPE 6. We now look forward to the next race
in Misano.”
Mitch Evans, Jaguar TCS Racing driver, #9: “Today was a challenging race. The type of track we had here in Tokyo meant that all of the overtakes had to be high risk, and it’s a shame that it didn’t pay off for me today as I think we could have finished within the points. We have all the ingredients to be at the front and the team has been working incredibly hard, so we’ll come back fighting in Misano.”
Nick Cassidy, Jaguar TCS Racing driver, #37: “The team did a really great job today and we had a really fast car. We made it through to the Duels but circumstances meant we couldn’t maximise it as much as we could. In the race, we started from the back of the grid, but we stayed calm, made a lot of progress and finished in the points which is all I could have asked for today. We move onto Misano now where we will try and continue the good form and get back on the podium.”
Rounds six and seven of the 2024 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship take place in Misano, Italy on the 13 and 14 April.
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