"Picked him up" - Evans explains Frijns accident, Cassidy shines with catch up at Formula E in Tokyo

Sobering - that is probably the conclusion that Jaguar TCS Racing has to draw after the Tokyo E-Prix. Mitch Evans collided with Robin Frijns in the race and dropped to the back of the field. Nick Cassidy had to clear the field from the back, even finished in the top 10 in the end, but still failed to achieve an outstanding result. This was certainly not how the British manufacturer had envisioned its 100th Formula E race.

Qualifying did not go perfectly for Jaguar. "We had an incredibly fast car and made it into the duel phase. But the lap was still not 100 per cent," Cassidy reported in a Twitter video. Shortly after the end of Group A, race control announced that his time would be cancelled as his car didn't comply with the throttle mapping.

This meant Cassidy had to start the race from 19th on the grid, but there was one good thing for Jaguar, as team-mate Evans slipped into the duels. After Evans lost two places right at the start of the race, he also had to roll up the field from midfield and try to overtake.

Evans: "All overtakes associated with high risk"

By the halfway point of the race, he had worked his way back up to ninth place and was battling with Robin Frijns in the Envision customer Jaguar. "The track layout here in Tokyo means that all overtaking overtakes are very risky," says Evans.

At The Race, he adds: "I was just at the stage where I needed to start making progress. Unfortunately, Robin was also at the apex of the corner when I arrived and I picked him up. I lost my front wing." After a pit stop, Evans finished the race in 15th place.

DISASTER FOR EVANS ?

The @JaguarRacing driver makes contact with @RFrijns and hits the barrier, bringing out the @PorscheRaces Safety Car.#TokyoEPrix pic.twitter.com/9uxml4mttf

- Formula E (@FIAFormulaE) March 30, 2024

Cassidy: "Remained calm during the race"

The race in the neighbouring garage was very different: Cassidy managed to work his way up from 19th place to 9th with an outstanding race. He made up a whole ten places. That was probably the maximum damage limitation that was possible.

"We stayed calm in the race, made a lot of progress and finished in the points. I couldn't have wished for more today," he summarised. After a penalty against Edo Mortara, he even finished eighth in the end.

"Despite a good basic performance, we didn't achieve the result today that we thought was possible," says team boss James Barclay. "Nick did an impressive job of fighting his way back into the points and he and the team did a great job to move up from 19th on the grid to 8th. These points are invaluable for our championship."