Jaguar TCS Racing’s Mitch Evans and Nick Cassidy finished first and second in the Monaco Formula E-Prix as the two New Zealanders raced with a faulty radio on Saturday.
It was Mitch Evans’ first win of the season. He is placed fifth in the drivers’ championship. Jaguar top the standings.
Evans started behind Cassidy in the second row of the grid after both made costly errors in qualifying. Evans moved ahead of his teammate early on in the race.
German driver Pascal Wehrlein took the opportunity to initiate his first of two Attack Modes. He lost his lead to Stoffel Vandoorne and dropped into fourth place before being overtaken by Jean-Eric Vergne.
Vergne’s own Attack Mode launch was ill-timed after a safety car was deployed onto the track following a crash by Edoardo Mortara.
The Jaguar pairing continued to trail the leaders and eventually capitalised on poor decisions by Vandoorne, using Attack Modes effectively to lead the race.
Over halfway through the race, Cassidy let Evans past as they got a hold of the top two positions.
But Jaguar’s win came with its own set of difficulties. Its radio communication was faulty, it emerged.
“It might sound like we were stressed but we’re actually just stressed on whether the messages had gone through or not,” Cassidy said.
“Why I think today was well handled is because we didn’t expect to be in the position that we were, but I think I kind of took it upon myself to do what’s the most fair and try and get the best result for the team, so I’m proud of myself for that.
Evans paid tribute to his teammate for his quick thinking during the race.
“I owe this win to Nick, he really helped me when it mattered,” he said. “I helped him as well, but I really appreciate the team player that he was today. It’s an amazing achievement for the team.”
Formula E returns in two weeks in Berlin for the ninth and 10th rounds of the season.
