Nick Cassidy marked his 50th Formula E start with his maiden victory for Jaguar TCS Racing in Saturday’s second race of the Diriyah E-Prix double-header, a win that also gave him the championship lead.
But despite the healthy advantage of 19 points and being the only driver to finish on the podium in all three races so far – the only driver with more than one podium at all, in fact – he’s not getting ahead of himself. And with good reason.
Last season, while driving for Jaguar customer Envision Racing, he failed to register a win until the mid-point of the season, but went onto notch up four victories (a season high) and had the championship lead with three races to go, only to ultimately miss out on the championship to Andretti’s Jake Dennis. So Cassidy knows all too well that Formula E’s tides can change dramatically over the course of a year.
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“Honestly, there are 13 races left, it’s a long way to go… this grid is super-close and it’s going to be tough,” Cassidy said after holding off Nissan’s Oliver Rowland and Envision’s Robin Frijns. “Oli had us topped in qualifying and Jake (Dennis) dominated (on Friday), so everyone’s having their good day right now.
“I don’t think we can make any big statements. I’m feeling good, I like the car, I think today’s race was nice but it could have been Robin, it could have been Oliver, it could have been me, and we were just lucky that it was us.”
Formula E now enters an extended break due to the cancellation of the Hyderabad E-Prix, but Cassidy sees the gap as neither an interruption to his strong momentum, nor an excuse to relax, insisting that “it’s just one race at a time,” and “a lot can happen,” being wary that his luck could run out at any moment in the ultra-competitive environment that is Formula E.
“It’s been good, I’ve had a lucky run,” he said. I’m feeling really good. I think this moment is super-important to celebrate because these races are just so hard to win in this championship and you never know when they’re going to come again so I’m enjoying it right now.
“I’m aware that I’m due a bad day, I’ve had a really good run since Portland last year and yeah, I’ve been lucky but it’s really nice.”