- Mitch Evans secured Pole position for Jaguar TCS Racing
- The Kiwi finished the race in fifth place to bring home important points for the British team
- Nick Cassidy had a challenging race with a collision in lap five, followed by a technical failure
- Jaguar TCS Racing maintain their lead in the 2024 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship after the first race of the double-header weekend in Misano
- Nick Cassidy is fifth in the Drivers’ World Championship with Mitch Evans remaining in sixth
- Round seven of the 2024 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship takes place tomorrow, Sunday 14 April 2024
Misano, Italy, 13 April 2024: Mitch Evans secured a brilliant Pole position in the inaugural Misano E-Prix for Jaguar TCS Racing. The British team finished the chaotic and extreme peloton-style race in Italy with valuable points for their World Championship campaign and head into the next round tomorrow maintaining their lead in the Teams’ World Championship.
At the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli, Qualifying saw both Jaguar TCS Racing drivers in Group B. Kiwi Mitch Evans lined up on the front row of the grid after defeating the McLarens of Sam Bird and Jake Hughes, and the DS Penske of Jean Éric Vergne in the Duels, securing Mitch and the team a further three points. Nick Cassidy narrowly missed out on a place in the Duels, lining up on the grid in eighth place after Jake Hughes was disqualified from Qualifying.
In the opening laps of the peloton-style race, track position rotated several times as drivers and teams worked to conserve energy and avoid the energy penalty of leading the pack too early in the race. Mitch and the team delivered a strategic race from the start but contact caused damage to the front wing of his Jaguar I-TYPE 6 and meant he crossed the line in seventh. A post-race time penalty for Vergne and disqualification for Antonio Felix da Costa, meant Mitch was promoted to fifth.
Nick Cassidy made strong progress at the start and by lap three was leading the race. However, in lap five of the hectic E-Prix, Jean Éric Vergne caused a collision which forced Nick to come into the pits for a front nose change, dropping him to the back of the pack. Nick and the team revised the strategy with the hope that there would be a safety car but was forced to retire in the last lap of the race due to a technical failure.
Jaguar TCS Racing maintain their lead in the Teams’ Championship standings. Nick Cassidy is fifth in the Drivers’ Standings, with Mitch Evans in sixth.
It’s been a day of two halves here at the inaugural Misano E-Prix. We had an amazing result in Qualifying with Mitch taking his first Pole position of the season. However, just as we suspected the race was incredibly chaotic due to the extreme peloton effect. For Mitch, we felt a podium was possible but in the shuffling of the pack and multiple position changes he incurred damage and he had to nurse the car home in P5.
Nick took an early lead in the race and we were trying to race cleanly and efficiently but the collision forced us to pit for a new front nose and effectively out of contention. We hoped for a safety car but that never came and in the end we had an issue which forced us to retire. Nick had really strong performance today but we couldn’t use it through no real fault of our own. We know we have all the ingredients for a good result so we will nurse our wounds, reset and come back tomorrow to give it our best as always.
James Barclay
Managing Director JLR Motorsport and Jaguar TCS Racing Team Principal:
Today started well after securing Pole in Qualifying, but unfortunately went downhill from there. The race was messy and it was difficult to stay out of trouble, and ultimately front wing damage ruined my chances of a podium today. Overall, a frustrating day but we’ll give it what we can tomorrow.
Mitch Evans
Jaguar TCS Racing driver, #9
I made progress at the start of the race today and by turn eight of lap one, I was up into second place, however a collision and damage to my front nose cone ended my chances of points. We have a quick car with the Jaguar I-TYPE 6 and a fantastic team at Jaguar TCS Racing, so let’s go again tomorrow.
