Nick Cassidy took his first win for Jaguar TCS Racing in the second race at the Diriyah E-Prix to take the lead in the Formula E World Championship.
The Kiwi qualified on the second row for the race and took the lead on Lap 5, retaining the position for the remainder of the 36 laps to take race honours from Robin Frijns and Oliver Rowland.
Teammate Mitch Evans narrowly missed out on the points, having qualified 14th and coming home 11th, one place behind defending champion Jake Dennis.
Rowland had qualified on pole, topping Frijns in the final duel, but found himself under pressure off the line, with the Envision driver taking the lead through the opening turn.
Cassidy jumped to second on Lap 4 when Rowland utilised the first of his attack modes, and he hit the front a lap later when Frijns followed suit. He would build a gap at the front before using his first attack mode on Lap 7, retaining his position as he did so.
The advantage sat at almost two seconds when he used his second allotment on Lap 13, which was enough to keep the lead over Frijns, who had pulled slightly clear of the chasing pack.
The front three positions would remain the same for the remainder of the race, with Cassidy managing a gap that rarely sat at more than one second to take the win.
Further back, Evans and Dennis had made little progress forward, and the defending champion jumped the Kiwi for tenth when he used his second attack mode. Dennis also claimed a bonus point for setting the fastest lap.
Mexico City E-Prix winner Pascal Wehrlein was one of the few who could move forward, finishing seventh after starting tenth.
McLaren’s Jake Hughes finished fourth, while his teammate Sam Bird was forced from the race on Lap 22 after making contact with the wall.
Stoffel Vandoorne, Sacha Fenestraz, Wehrlein, Jen-Eric Vergne, Maximilian Gunther and Dennis completed the top ten.
The Victory gives Cassidy a healthy 18-point championship advantage over Wehrlein, while Evans is sixth, 36 points behind his teammate.
Jaguar TCS Racing hold the advantage in the Teams’ Championship, holding a 29-point buffer over DS Penske.
With the Hyderabad E-Prix cancelled, which was scheduled to be Round 4, the field faces an extended break between rounds, with the action resuming at the Sao Paulo E-Prix on March 16.
Header Image: Formula E
