As Formula E returned to North America there was plenty to shout about for Envison Virgin Racing. Nick Cassidy led the race for most of its duration from pole position, ending up fourth at the flag.
Even before the weekend’s racing got under way in New York City, Envision Virgin Racing found themselves sitting pretty with rookie Nick Cassidy starting from pole and team-mate Robin Frijns from a solid 11th.
Cassidy made the headline in qualifying, notching up the third fastest time in his group three session and advancing to super pole. He didn’t fail to deliver and turned in a great lap to take pole position by two tenths of a second, with former champions Sébastien Buemi and Jean Eric Vergne unable to beat the Kiwi’s time.
In just his 10th Formula E start Cassidy made a textbook getaway from his second pole position in the all-electric series, chased by second placed qualifier Jean Eric Vergne.
Cassidy’s followers – Vergne, Sébastien Buemi and Maximilian Günther – took their first Attack Mode with just shy of 35 minutes remaining as the Kiwi Envision Virgin Racing driver chose to take his one lap later, crucially emerging in the lead ahead of Vergne.
Despite Cassidy’s relative short experience in Formula E, the New Zealander managed to withstand extreme pressure from double champion Vergne and held onto the lead as the race entered its final 30 minutes.
In the battle for the lead, Cassidy’s pursuers elected to take their second Attack Mode with 26 minutes left on the clock; Cassidy followed suit a lap later once again, establishing and maintaining a commanding lead of the E-Prix of around 1.5 seconds.
Late in the race, Cassidy found himself under huge pressure from Vergne and the Frenchman’s Fan Boost as the battle for the lead turned into a train of four cars with Di Grassi on the end of the high-speed Conga line.
Vergne made his move for the lead under braking for turn 6, only to be resisted by Cassidy before an aggressive move from Vergne a couple of corners later at the hairpin pushed the Envision Virgin Racing driver wide and relegated him to fourth place. When the chaos calmed down, Günther emerged in the lead.
As things settled for the final few laps, Cassidy suddenly found himself ahead of team-mate Frijns where he would finish the race, as Günther made the most of his late race fortune to win ahead of Vergne and Di Grassi.
After the race Cassidy commented: “I think we did a good job today. At the start of the race I felt very comfortable, under control. The full course yellow didn’t fall my way, though – it was when I had my Attack Mode so I couldn’t extend the gap I had and lost time, which I think is ultimately what cost me.
“I was down a little bit on energy to JEV (Vergne) so I knew that he would attack me somewhere and there was a high chance it would happen at turn 10. He lunged me and, unfortunately, he overshot a bit and ran wide, which obviously left me out to dry. A little bit over the top, but it’s one of those things – that’s racing.”
Press content courtesy of Envision Virgin Racing
