Nick Cassidy took the win in Race 2 of FIA Formula E London EPrix amid wet weather condition, with Mitch Evans and Jake Dennis in second and third.
After a long delay and eight laps behind the Safety Car with wet weather getting the better of things, Cassidy led things away into the first corner with Evans and Nato in tow – the field fishtailing around the second sector once they’d left the indoor section of the track.
Stoffel Vandoorne and Sam Bird immediately jumped for their first of two mandatory 50kW ATTACK MODE boosts on Lap 9 – opting, with several other drivers outside the top 10, to ensure they’d get them in before any further stoppages came into play. Evans followed from P2, with Nato, Buemi, Mueller and Ticktum a lap later on Lap 10.
Cassidy headed Evans, Dennis, Nato, Vandoorne, Bird, Buemi, Mueller, Wehrlein and Ticktum the top 10 – the lead pair pulling out 2.5 seconds in the trickiest of conditions on third-placed driver Dennis. The Kiwi in P1 then jumped for his first ATTACK MODE activation on Lap 11, retaining his advantage at the head of the pack.
On home soil, NIO 333’s Dan Ticktum made a move stick on Maserati MSG Racing’s Edoardo Mortara on Lap 15 as the Swiss-French-Italian got sideways out of Turns 4 & 5, opening the door for 10th and points. Cassidy was really putting the hammer down out front, mastering the ultra-slippery conditions. He’d pulled out three seconds on second-placed Evans come Lap 17, with the Jaguar TCS Racing driver himself some seven seconds clear of third-placed man Dennis.
On Lap 19, the best racing was to be had between three champions between Vergne in 16th, di Grassi 17th and da Costa in 18th as the former got a nudge from di Grassi with the trio inseperable as they looked to climb the order – just 0.8 seconds between all three of them. That battle came to a swift end with an issue for the DS PENSKE man allowing di Grassi and da Costa to sail by on Lap 23 as Vergne fell to the back of the pack – sustaining damage or a puncture in that earlier contact that needed recfiying via a pitstop.
Cassidy cleared up the use of his second ATTACK MODE, keeping hold of a three-second lead out front while setting a string of TAG Heuer Fastest Laps. He’d also got a percentage point or two in-hand on Evans and Dennis behind. It looked comfortable for the Envision Racing driver, with the team in search of Teams’ honours. The Kiwis had some 11 seconds on Lap 26 on the guys behind – they were in a class of their own.
Bird put the hammer down in the battle with Buemi for sixth spot as Jaguar TCS Racing sensed the need to push – behind Envision in the Teams’ running as it stood with nine laps to go. The Swiss denied Bird the chance to get past – later on the brakes into Turn 1 on Lap 28 than the Brit. It looked Envision’s to lose.
Evans, also got a move on as the laps ticked down. He needed to pressure leader Cassidy into making some kind of error and had the Envision driver within two seconds rather than the three we’d seen up to this point. It felt as if Cassidy did have enough in hand to manage things to the end, however. Four laps were added on for a 38-lap total but it wouldn’t change the result as Cassidy led Evans and Dennis home – with five seconds in-hand.
#ABBFormulaE #LondonEPrix #Round16 After a lengthly delay, the final EPrix finally got underway. Most positions remained as they were so Nick Cassidy won. #MsportXtra @FormulaEZone pic.twitter.com/2JDVPjNyas
— #MsportXtra © (@MsportXtra) July 30, 2023
Here’s how Race 1 in London EPrix panned out
[Note: The story is as per press release]