Envision Racing’s Nick Cassidy picked his moment to hit the front and went on to seal the race win in the SABIC Berlin E-Prix Round 8, as he got the best of a tight field to clamber from eighth to the top step of the podium.
The unique Berlin Tempelhof Circuit threw up a second intensely tactical race in as many days, brimming with overtakes – 172 in total, making for 362 over the weekend – and featuring another strategic masterclass from the race winner; this time, Envision Racing’s Nick Cassidy. The Kiwi started eighth and hit the front on Lap 25. He drove supremely to stay there – setting the pace, given the okay from his engineer on Lap 33, and mastering Formula E’s tightrope of ultimate pace, racecraft and energy.
Keeping a handle on energy was again crucial at the slipstream-heavy race track, and Cassidy himself doubted whether he’d be able to match the pace of those behind for the best part of 20 laps out-front. He fended off the close attentions of all comers, including each of his closest championship rivals at one stage or another.
Jake Dennis was in striking distance come the chequered flag in the Avalanche Andretti Porsche 99X Electric, just half a second back at the flag, in fact, but not close enough to topple Cassidy – who now has four podiums on the spin and draws to within four points of standings leader Pascal Wehrlein (TAG Heuer Porsche). Brit Dennis will be pleased to end a three-race scoring drought, however, as he reignites his title ambitions.
Wehrlein started sixth, in a stronger position than recent races having complained of poor one-lap pace in qualifying. He did lead a couple of times – the first on Lap 15 – but ultimately couldn’t live with the leader and found himself shuffled to seventh at the race’s end.
Jean-Eric Vergne admitted he didn’t have the pace to challenge the Jaguar-powered Envision that ultimately raced to the top step, despite also hitting the front. Nevertheless, the DS PENSKE driver will no doubt be quielty pleased to have scored strongly with third, with an eye on the long game as the season passes its half-way stage.
Round 7 winner Mitch Evans made up a spot from his grid position to come home fourth, making it a superb weekend’s work for the Kiwi and Jaguar TCS Racing, despite teammate Sam Bird getting into contact and being forced out of contention in this encounter. In fact, a Jaguar powertrain had driven to victory in three consecutive races for the very first time in Formula E, albeit in the hands of customers Envision Racing and Cassidy.
The standout drive was arguably Maximilian Guenther’s from 21st on the grid. The Maserati MSG Racing driver followed up on securing the team’s first podium in Round 7 with sixth a day later – climbing 15 positions through the pack. Polesitter Robin Frijns in the ABT CUPRA couldn’t live with the pace of the leaders and dropped to 17th at thr end, with teammate and fellow front-row starter Nico Mueller faring better with ninth on home soil to score the team’s first points in the GEN3 era. That left Wehrlein on top of the pile but by a narrow four-point margin to Cassidy, with Vergne third. TAG Heuer Porsche’s advantage in the Teams’ table also continues to evaporate, with the Jaguar-powered Envision Racing squad now just 15 points back in second.
Next up, in a fortnight’s time, we head to Monaco for Round 9 of Season 9, 6 May.
