Nick Cassidy wins delayed Round 16 London E-Prix with absolute confidence, ahead of Evans in P2 and Dennis in P3.
Photo credit: Formula E Media Bank / Simon Galloway
The last race of Season 9 is on its way and we couldn’t be more excited about it. Although the Drivers Championship has been decided yesterday, today, even bigger prize is on the line – and it’s the Constructors Championship, that will dictate which team will get what amount of money from the prize money pool. That money will be crucial to the teams for the development of their cars and overall operations, so the stress is high right now. Its Envision versus Jaguar, it’s Porsche versus Andretti, but its also Jaguar-powertrains against Porsche-powertrains. Which team will come victorious and take the trophy and money home? Let’s see!
We’ve got an Auckland 1-2 with Cassidy on pole and Evans in 2nd, and here’s how the rest of the grid will line up behind them: Nato, Dennis, Vandoorne, Bird, Buemi, Muller, Ticktum, Wehrlein, Vergne, Mortara, Rast, Lotterer, Sette Camara, Gunther, Di Grassi, Fenestraz, Hughes, Da Costa, Merhi and Frijns.
Shortly before the start, we’ve had some proper downpour of rain. Considering the indoor-outdoor nature of the track, this will bring an interesting dynamic.
It’s a start behind a Safety Car, due to rain, before we get a standing start on the start-finish indoors. Just as we were supposed to get some action, the safety car has been deployed again, instead of the standing start. There’s a lot of water on track and the rain continued to pour down. The drivers were reporting even heavier rain and unsafe conditions, as they continued to stroll behind the safety car. Red flag was brought out due to the rain, and after around 40 minutes of delay, the racing was about to resume. Drivers back in the car, and the cars exit the pitlane. Two more laps behind Safety Car and then green light.
And just as we were supposed to go up and running, we’ve got another red flag. Scott Elkinns, the Formula E Race Director said that these conditions were supposed to last another approximately 10 to 15 minutes.
After over an hour of delay, we received an information that the race is supposed to resume at 6:30PM local time. Safety car deployed and the cars make their way on track. Again, supposed two laps behind the safety car and then a rolling start when the safety car gets in. So far we’ve had 90 minutes of delay, hopefully no more. On the way to the start, Nico Muller lost a part of his car, most likely a mirror. We’re just hoping for a safe race for everyone.
Safety Car is in, we go green in London! So far everyone safely makes it through the first lap. Bird, Vandoorne, Vergne, Sette Camara, Di Grassi, Da Costa, Merhi and Frijns take their attack mode. Dennis leapfrogs Nato who goes for attack mode just as Evans. Cassidy still holds onto his lead.
Race leader Cassidy goes for his first attack mode, and as a driver used to racing in monsoons he might be the man to get the job done today. At this stage, most of the drivers took at least one attack mode, with 24 laps to go.
JEV tries to make a move on Rast, but so far unsuccessfully. Cassidy keeps putting in fastest laps lap after lap, proving that his experience from Japanese GT is giving him a huge advantage in these conditions. Ticktum makes a move on Mortara after the Swiss struggles with grip and executes it perfectly.
Cassidy takes his second attack mode, and with Dennis doing that too the Top 3 has taken all of their available attacks. Frijns gets a move done on Lotterer and goes into P19. Evans had a 2.6s gap to Cassidy, and Dennis has a 6.4s gap to Evans at this stage of the race. Fenestraz gets ahead of JEV and Ticktum gets ahead of Wehrlein. Di Grassi tries to get ahead of JEV but had to hold off.
With 15 laps to go, the Top 10 at that moment was: Cassidy, Evans, Dennis, Nato, Vendoorne, Bird, buemi, Muller, Ticktum and Wehrlein in P10. The Kiwi in P1 was still putting in fastest laps.
JEV must have had an issue, as he began to drop down. He went for a tyre change, most likely a puncture, but he was capable to go back on track. The gap between Evans and Dennis extended to over 10s, meaning the two Kiwis had a race of their own in the front of the pack.
Nine laps to go and the Top 10 at that time was: Cassidy, Evans, Dennis, Nato, Vandoorne, Buemi, Bird, Muller, Ticktum and Wehrlein in P10. It gets spicy between Bird and Buemi, as Bird gets closer and closer to the other Envision car. Once again, the results of today will be crucial in terms of Teams Championship and the prize money awarded. Ticktum tries to get ahead of Muller and he gets close, but has to hold off from the Swiss.
Evans gets the gap to Cassidy down to 1.7s, can the Kiwi in Envision hold off? Four laps added onto the race distance, due to the safety car periods at the very start of the race. The gap between Cassidy and Evans extends to 2.0s, and with seven laps to go, Cassidy might be able to hold onto his lead. Dennis goes fastest, but Evans tries to challenge. Even the point for the fastest lap will make a difference in the Teams Championship.
Into the added laps, and Cassidy absolutely controls the race. Dennis goes fastest again, will the Kiwi be able to challenge? The gap between Cassidy and Evans extends to 2.8s, and with four laps to go, it will be Envision who will come victorious. It seems like Evans has a bit of an issue, as he started to drop down, the gap between him and Cassidy extends to almost 4s. Two laps to go, and the Top 3 remained the same.
Nick Cassidy wins the London E-Prix! The Kiwi absolutely dominated the field in the wet today, what a fantastic performance from the Auckland-born driver. Second comes Mitch Evans in Jaguar TCS Racing, followed by Jake Dennis in P3.
After 90 minutes of delay, it was all worth it for Cassidy and Envision Racing, who win the Teams Championship ahead of their supplier Jaguar TCS Racing. That’s all from us for today, but we’ll be back shortly with lessons, quotes and Season summaries! Until then, don’t forget: enjoy the race, wherever you are ✨
