Championship contender Nick Cassidy has completed a move to Jaguar TCS Racing for 2024 on a multi-year contract, according to The Race.
The huge signing was revealed by the publication on Thursday ahead of this weekend’s Rome doubleheader – the penultimate venue of the season. Cassidy will be departing Envision Racing to replace Briton Sam Bird at Jaguar, where he’ll form an exciting driver pairing alongside fellow New Zealander and title rival Mitch Evans.
Reportedly, Cassidy and his representatives have been talking to the factory outfit for months, with his three-year Envision contract to expire this summer. The Race understands that the deal was signed following the Auckland-born driver’s stunning Portland E-Prix victory, a race which featured a record-breaking 403 overtakes.
Cassidy’s market value has risen exponentially since he made his first Formula E appearance for Envision in season seven, with the 28-year-old having claimed four wins in his 43 starts for the Jaguar customer team.
It’s his form this season though, which has caught Jaguar’s attention, given that three of his four wins in the all-electric series have come in the last five races. Victories in Berlin, Monaco and recently in Portland have thrown Cassidy into title contention.
He briefly led the standings following his magical Monaco win, only for a disappointing weekend in Jakarta to drop him back to third. Despite this, Cassidy enters the Rome E-Prix second in the Drivers’ Championship and just a point behind leader Jake Dennis, following his stunning win across the pond.
Whilst qualifying hasn’t been his strong point this campaign, on the whole, Cassidy’s mental awareness and strategic in-race planning has been, in many ways, unbeatable. The Envision driver has mastered this season’s questionable peloton-style racing, which has played a dominant role in the start of the Gen3 era.
Cassidy’s consistency has been breathtaking following a slow start to the season, with the driver having featured on the podium at six of the past nine races. Only Dennis has claimed more podiums this season, something which has seen the Andretti driver head to the Italian capital with his miniscule lead at the top of the standings over Cassidy.
His move to Jaguar will see the Coventry-based team boast one of the strongest pairings on the grid, whilst it’ll also increase their hopes going forward of winning a first Constructors’ Championship. The factory side currently sit third in the standings but 47 points behind Porsche, largely due to a recent unfortunate run for Bird.
Jaguar are yet to officially confirm the signing of Cassidy and the departure of Bird, with Team Principal James Barclay wanting the side to keep their sights on “this season’s fight”.
“Our focus is very much on this season’s fight for both the team and driver world championship titles and having a successful end to this very competitive season,” Barclay said in a statement to The Race.
“Whilst we are of course well underway with our planning for the 2024 ABB FIA Formula E world championship season we will announce relevant news, including that of our driver line-up, at a later date.”
An official announcement regarding Jaguar’s 2024 line-up is expected to be made following the conclusion of the 2022/23 season, which could see Evans or Cassidy crowned as FE World Champion.
