NEW YORK CITY E-PRIX PODIUM FOR MITCH EVANS KEEPS TITLE CHANCES ALIVE

It was a race of mixed emotions for Panasonic Jaguar Racing. Alex had a fantastic start – managing to overtake Pascal before turn one – and he was set for his first podium for the team. We were upset to see him retire from P2 and to end his race early. He didn’t deserve that today and we have to investigate why.

Mitch showed again why he has been one of the standout drivers in Formula E this season. He did a good job under difficult track conditions for the drivers in group one. He had his work cut out with a grid position of P13. In the race, he put in an incredible performance to finish just behind Sebastien Buemi in second. Arguably one of the best drives of the season. We are already looking ahead to tomorrow and giving everything we can in the final race of the season. We want to give Mitch and Alex the best possible opportunity to finish the season in style.

To get up to the podium from P13 was unexpected but a fantastic result for everyone in the Panasonic Jaguar Racing team. Since we made some changes in Rome, the car has been rapid, so it’s great to capitalise on that pace. I honestly think that Alex deserved to be up on the podium with me today. He had a tough failure – we’re not exactly sure what happened – but it was good to see him up there battling at the front. Tomorrow is all about qualifying – to make Super Pole from group one is virtually impossible, but we’ll be giving everything for the final race. While there is still a chance I will keep fighting until the chequered flag.

I qualified third, made it through into Super Pole quite comfortably and had a good start moving up to second, then with twenty minutes to go we had a failure on the car. We haven’t yet quite diagnosed exactly what it was. It is really frustrating as I think I could have won my first E‑Prix today. Fortunately I have another race tomorrow and I will be aiming for a strong finish to the season.