A new leader in the standings, the powertrain taking the spotlight and great comebacks on the grid were highlights of the Monaco E-Prix, which ended with victory and changes at the top of the tournament.
Envision Racing driver Nick Cassidy got off to a slow start in the GEN3 era, scoring only ten points in the first three races, but his fortunes soon changed from Hyderabad.
A third place in Cape Town, two second places in Hyderabad and São Paulo, and back-to-back wins in Berlin and Monaco have taken Cassidy to the top of the World Drivers’ Championship.
With 121 points to his name and 20 points ahead of Pascal Wehrlein (Porsche), he is the new favorite for the championship with seven races left on the calendar.
Pole Position: Not a Difference
Another key aspect of Monaco was that the qualifying session was not decisive. Cassidy started in ninth place and took the victory in the Principality.
The trend so far in Formula E is that the last 12 pole winners have not won the race and have not even been on the podium in the previous eight races, including Monaco.
On top of all the qualifying drama, Nissan’s Sacha Fenestraz’s time of 1m28.773s in the semis was the fastest lap of the full circuit in Formula E history, with an average speed of 135.324 km/h.
That’s not an unpleasant statistic, especially as the young rookie also has the fastest Formula E lap when he flew around the Cape Town circuit earlier this year.
Read also: Nick Cassidy Takes the Lead
Jaguar Leads GEN3
While Porsche certainly set the tone in the early races of the season by placing its cars at the top of the standings, Jaguar’s powertrain, supplied to the factory Envision team, has won the last four races in a row.
In addition to Jaguar’s consistency, there is also a new record set by Evans and Cassidy as New Zealand drivers.
Between them they have won every race from São Paulo through to Monaco, securing the longest winning streak for a nationality seen in Formula E history.