As the Season 9 title race takes on new twists and turns, Jaguar TCS Racing experiences highs and lows in the “Eternal City.”
The Rome E-Prix was stopped in the middle of the race today (15 July), due to a collision involving Mitch Evans’ Jaguar TCS Racing teammate Sam Bird. The tragedy occurred on a day filled with drama in the Italian capital.
Evans took the green flag from the front row in the scorching heat, but in an effort to save energy in the slipstream of the sister car, he handed the lead to Bird into Turn One. After switching positions once more on lap five, Evans turned on his first Attack Mode two laps later and lost ground to Sacha Fenestraz (Nissan Formula E Team), who had taken up the lead.
On lap nine, however, the red flags were raised as Bird lost control at the circuit’s quickest point, slammed into the barriers, and spun out onto the track, where he was then hit by several other vehicles. Thankfully, no one was hurt while driving.
In addition to Bird, Sébastien Buemi (Envision Racing), António Félix da Costa (TAG Heuer Porsche), Edoardo Mortara (Maserati MSG Racing), Lucas Di Grassi (Mahindra Racing), and Robin Frijns (ABT CUPRA Formula E Team) would also not be continuing due to debris on the track.
At the restart, there were 14 cars left. As the race approached midway, Fenestraz was in the lead, followed by Evans, Jake Dennis (Avalanche Andretti), and Nick Cassidy (Envision Racing), but the Frenchman was running low on fuel.
Dennis, who was in first place in the standings heading into the weekend, was the first to act, dispatching Evans and Fenestraz in quick succession to advance two positions in a single lap. Evans realised he needed to act quickly as the Briton quickly made his getaway at the head of the race. He did so to oust Fenestraz from second place the following lap before Cassidy again displaced the Frenchman a lap later.
The struggle was on as Evans overtook Dennis and Cassidy overtook both of them. On lap 18, Dennis used Attack Mode, and the Jaguar driver recaptured the lead. Evans tried to take the lead back from Dennis on lap 20 but failed to activate one of the loops, so he had to attempt again on lap 21, but only briefly.
At this point, it was clear that the leader’s mid-race surge had negatively impacted his energy usage, and Dennis was helpless to stop his two title contenders from making up ground. The outcome gave Evans the first driver to ever win the Rome E-Prix from pole position and the first driver in Season 9 to collect a maximum score for pole, victory, and fastest lap. It also marked Evans’ third consecutive victory in the “Eternal City.” With three races remaining, the 29-year-old is currently only 20 points away from the top of the standings.
Cassidy followed his countryman across the line, 1.6 seconds behind to cement his seventh podium finish of the 2022/23 campaign and the third New Zealand top two lockout. The bottom step of the rostrum was claimed by Maximilian Günther despite a late error, with the German producing a feisty performance on Maserati MSG Racing’s home soil.
Dennis ultimately wound up fourth, albeit more than 21 seconds adrift of Evans at the chequered flag. The Briton needed to get his elbows out in the closing stages as DS Penske’s Jean-Éric Vergne and ABT CUPRA Formula E Team ace Nico Müller latched onto his tail, but a dogged defence enabled him to keep the battling duo at bay. For Müller, sixth position represented his best finish of the season.
TAG Heuer Porsche driver Pascal Wehrlein dropped to fourth in the championship chase after first-lap damage required a pit stop for a replacement front wing. He is currently 31 points behind new championship leader Ryan Cassidy.
The disappointed Fenestraz faded to tenth in the final standings, while eighth-placed Sérgio Sette Câmara (NIO 333 Racing) scored for the first time since Hyderabad five months ago. Norman Nato finished seventh for Nissan.
Round 14 of the Rome E-Prix campaign begins tomorrow (Sunday, July 16) at 15:03 CET with the second leg of the double-header.
Jaguar TCS Racing’s No. 9 driver, Mitch Evans, said:
“Today’s race was virtually two races in one. First and foremost, it’s glad to hear that everyone is doing well following the shunt. It was quite large, and Sam undoubtedly experienced a frightening time. The energy objectives dropped significantly following the safety car, so it turned out to be a much more intense energy race than we had anticipated. following that, I was slightly underpowered compared to Nick and Jake, so I had to work to make up that deficit. But I handled it effectively, and the team supported me along the way as usual before turning the remainder over to me. The absence of the Attack Mode gave me a small scare.
Despite moving extremely slowly, I still missed it on the last lap. Tomorrow I need to practise that. Nevertheless, today’s performance was fantastic; I received all possible points, which was just what I needed. Although it just makes a tiny dent in Nick’s lead, it is nonetheless an improvement. We hoped to end the curse and become the first driver to win in Rome from the starting position. I don’t know what it is about this area, but four victories is incredible. I also adore the track. Tomorrow will undoubtedly be another day, and I predict that everyone will make another significant advancement. Nick was very speedy in the race. Tomorrow is our chance to take it, but we must first make the correct moves. Hopefully, we have a plan in place.
The driver of the No. 37 Envision Racing car, Nick Cassidy, said: “I didn’t anticipate it, but I actually felt fairly quick today. Although we had a strong chance in qualifying, I wouldn’t say I was angry about it; rather, I was heartbroken. Nevertheless, racing is what it is, and we started tenth and had a fantastic race. Mitch and Jaguar deserve praise; they performed admirably today. In the race, we had a good opportunity to assess where each other were strong, and I felt he was a touch stronger than me. Oddly, I felt closer to them in qualifying than I did in the race. Tomorrow, we’ll have a look at it and go once again. But we make a good team.
Maserati MSG Racing’s No. 7 driver, Maximilian Günther, commented
“Having Maserati finish on the podium in our maiden Formula E race at home is an incredible experience. Incredible, so many feelings of joy. We had a few problems that we are hoping to resolve tomorrow, so we will just have to put up with them today. It has been a difficult weekend thus far. We fared well in qualifying, and the race was run flawlessly. I’m overjoyed to have this podium. Energy management was going to be key because, as I knew, it was harder to pass here. Fair enough, our goal was to place in the top five or six since we wanted to earn points. But I’m pleased to accept the podium, even though it wasn’t mine to take.
