The Envision Racing duo of Nick Cassidy and Robin Frijns started the opening round of the 2021–22 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship line astern under the lights at the Diriyah E-Prix, and after a difficult start, Cassidy claimed a solid seventh with a top three finish within range.
Both drivers starred in the brand new qualifying format, with Robin Frijns going quickest in Group A as both he and team-mate Cassidy made it through to the quarter finals for the new head-to head knockout.
Following a thrilling debut for the new qualification system, Cassidy ended up sixth and Frijns seventh. A few hours later when the lights went out to start the 45-minute-plus-one-lap race, as the pack filtered through the opening right-left sequence of corners, the Envision Racing duo maintained their formation flying throughout the opening couple of laps, albeit running two positions back from their qualifying slots.
Cassidy clocked up the fastest lap of the race with 23 minutes left and held seventh position and chased down Jaguar’s Sam Bird. As the minutes ticked by, Cassidy’s race became a comfortable, and rather lonely, seventh place with Lucas di Grassi further down the road, and Porsche driver Pascal Wehrlein following.
All that changed in the blink of an eye, as the final 10 minutes saw a clash between the drivers battling for the podium. Jake Dennis and Andre Lotterer made contact at turn one, compressing the field and giving Cassidy a shot at sixth place with a podium in sight.
Cassidy kept his powder dry at the rear of the four-car train scrapping for a podium, in a battle that brought the race to life in the closing stages. The Kiwi driver looked to pip Di Grassi for sixth with just under 10 minutes remaining, however the Brazilian found some extra pace, took the initiative and seized fifth place from Lotterer.
In due course, Cassidy was all over Lotterer in the closing stages and the two-time Formula E polesitter made a textbook move to claim sixth as the race entered the closing eight minutes, managing to keep within lunging distance of Di Grassi and Bird as the chequered flag approached.
It was all change once again for Cassidy on the final lap. Despite defending admirably from a rapid Edoardo Mortara, the Envision Racing driver ended up being passed in the final few metres by the Venturi driver, finishing one place back from where he started in the desert, but with a decent points haul from race one of the season.
Nick Cassidy
“It was an interesting race today! Not perfect, and definitely room for improvement, but we got some good points and the car was fast.
Managed to score my first fastest lap in Formula E, and it is looking good to score points tomorrow, so there’s a lot to look forward to this weekend and the rest of the year.”
The next round of the championship heads to Mexico City on the 12th February.
Press content courtesy of Envision Racing
