Nick Cassidy timed his Attack Mode to perfection to win the second race of the Diriyah E-Prix, in what was his first victory as a factory Jaguar driver.
The Kiwi drove beautifully and quickly got into the lead after starting third, with him having then managed the race to perfection. Behind, Robin Frijns finished second, securing his first podium since returning to Envision Racing. Pole sitter Oliver Rowland completed the podium, marking his first rostrum since Seoul in 2022 and his first for Nissan since Season 7.
Narrowly missing out on the podium in fourth was Jake Hughes, although it was still a career-best result for him. Fifth went to Stoffel Vandoorne, whilst Sacha Fenestraz, Pascal Wehrlein, Jean-Éric Vergne, Maximilian Günther and reigning World Champion Jake Dennis completed the top 10. Mitch Evans was 11th. However, Dennis and Evans ended up swapping places after the race, as the Andretti driver was penalised for overtaking under yellow flags.
How the race unfolded
There was very little similar about the grid for the second race in Diriyah compared to the first, as several of the big-hitters started outside the top 10. This included Dennis, Wehrlein and Mitch Evans. Only 21 cars started the race, as Sébastian Buemi withdrew as a result of significant damage to his car, following a crash in qualifying.
At the front, Rowland started on pole for the first time since Seoul in 2022, with Frijns alongside him. Cassidy was right behind Rowland on the grid in third, with Season 8 World Champion Vandoorne in fourth. All eyes, though, were on whether the championship favourites could fight through the pack.
As the five red lights went out, it was Frijns who made a brilliant start, whilst Rowland was slow off the line. It allowed the Envision driver to move into the lead on the run into the first corner. Cassidy also made a strong start but remained in third, with Vandoorne in fourth. At the back and it was a miserable start for Dan Ticktum, who pitted with front wing damage.
All the drivers were relatively well-behaved and settled into the race quickly. With the E-Prix being a lap shorter than the opening race, the pace was frenetic. The lead drivers all activated their first Attack Mode in the opening laps, with Cassidy having been the big winner. The Kiwi was the last of the top three to take his Attack Mode, something which allowed him to set some rapid laps out front.
He was promoted into the lead as a result of Frijns and Rowland activating their Attack Move first. Cassidy built a big enough gap to them so that he could activate his and keep the lead. Frijns dropped to second as a result and Rowland into third. The Nissan driver just couldn’t match the pace of the top two, who are both powered by Jaguar.
Rowland dropped three seconds behind Frijns, whilst the Dutchman was two seconds behind Cassidy. The Kiwi was in complete control and began to clear off into the distance. Elsewhere, a huge train formed behind Jehan Daruvala in seventh, that went all the way back to António Félix da Costa in a woeful P19. The likes of Wehrlein, Evans and Dennis were still in the bottom half by Lap 12/36.
Back at the front, and Cassidy activated his second Attack Mode on Lap 14, with his advantage over Frijns having been big enough to activate it and remain comfortably in the lead. Rowland remained in third but had fallen four seconds behind Frijns, with Hughes and Vandoorne having been behind the pole sitter.
Completing the top 10 at the halfway mark in the race were Fenestraz, Vergne, Sam Bird, Wehrlein and Daruvala. The rookie was holding on to P10 by the skin of his teeth. Evans and Dennis sat in 12th and 13th but were starting to make some progress.
The race was developing nicely, as Rowland suddenly reduced his deficit to Frijns to just over a second, suggesting that he had fallen back earlier to save energy. Incredibly, just one-second separated the top three on Lap 22. The Neom McLaren drivers were looking stellar once again, with Hughes having joined the fight for a podium whilst Bird was pushing for a top five.
That was until Lap 23, when Bird suddenly tumbled to the foot of the order and pulled into the pits to retire due to rear suspension damage. A couple of laps later and there was another retirement, as Daruvala’s efforts to try and claim a point came to a disappointing end. The Indian driver went straight on at Turn 18, and immediately reported a technical failure.
No Safety Car was required, with his car having been recovered under a yellow flag on that part of the circuit. Daruvala’s car was quickly recovered, and on Lap 29 the entire circuit was back to green flag conditions. When that happened, Cassidy was still in the lead but with Frijns and Rowland right behind him. Meanwhile, Hughes was looming large behind Rowland and was pushing for his first Formula E podium.
The pace remained seriously quick, with the top 13 having been separated by just 10 seconds. Further back, Dennis got into P10 on Lap 31, after overtaking Evans. Everyone was behaving themselves as the race approached its final three laps. No overtakes took place on the third to final lap, meaning any driver wanting to make a position was running out of time.
Even on the penultimate lap, nothing changed, leaving Frijns, Rowland and Hughes with just one lap to make some magic happen. Cassidy suddenly pulled the pin on the final lap and built a comfortable lead over Frijns, who also built a decent enough gap over Rowland. Everyone was seemingly just not close enough to the car in front to make the move, resulting in Hughes just missing out on the podium.
Cassidy secured the win by 1.1s, marking his third consecutive podium of Season 10 and his first win for Jaguar TCS Racing. Behind him, Rowland claimed his first podium since returning to Nissan in third, with Frijns in the middle in second. It was also Frijns’ first rostrum since returning to Envision.
Dennis secured the fastest lap, which gave him an additional point in P10, whilst the three points for pole went to Rowland. Cassidy’s superb start to 2024 has seen him move into the lead of the Drivers’ Championship, with him having an 18-point lead over Wehrlein. Cassidy sits on 56 points, whilst Wehrlein has 38. Vergne sits third on 33 points, with Dennis fourth on 30 and Günther in fifth on 20.
In the Constructors’ Championship, Jaguar sit very comfortably at the top on 76 points, 29 ahead of DS Penske. Andretti Formula E are in third on 39 points, a single point ahead of Porsche on 38. Envision are a further point adrift on 37 points.
Formula E returns in seven weeks with the São Paulo E-Prix.
