Tag: Nick Cassidy

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Formula E Season 10 Round 9 and 10: Cassidy and Da Costa Both take Victory in Berlin as Title Battle Heats Up

Berlin is an all time classic on the Formula E calendar. Round 9 and 10 were no different with dramatic races happening on both Saturday and Sunday!

Key Moments from Race 9

  • Edoardo Mortara started on pole ahead of Stoffel Vandoorne.
  • Sette Camara tried to take P3 away from Vergne
  • There were big battles for the final points paying positions from Ticktum,Evans, Cassidy, Rowland and Van Der Linde
  • Vandoorne, Vergne, Da Costa and Mortara were all battling for the lead into the tight double right turns of 6 and 7. 
  • Racing was brought to a halt when a full course yellow was brought out due to a stopped Envision on track of Joel Eriksson. This was an eventual safety car. 
  • The safety car came in on lap 17 and Vergne tried to hold the lead while Wehrlein went for the overtake in the double right turns before the hairpin and made it stick. 
  • Di Grassi spun due to contact with Sette Camara after the restart.
  • Guenther ended up in the wall after the restart and on lap 30, the safety car came out again.
  • The safety car came back in on lap 34 and at the restart, there was 4 wide for the lead.
  • Da Costa came out in the lead.
  • Lap 41 saw Wehrlein take the lead before more overtakes occuring to see Vergne lead and Cassidy holding his nerve.
  • Once Cassidy was in the lead, there was no looking back as he took victory!

 

The cars pull away at the start of the race Image Credit: Formula E Media Bank

Race 9 Results

Position Driver Team Points
1st Nick Cassidy Jaguar TCS Racing 26
2nd Jean-Eric Vergne DS Penske 18
3rd Oliver Rowland Nissan Formula E Team 15
4th Mitch Evans Jaguar TCS Racing 12
5th Pascal Wehrlein Tag Heur Porsche Formula E Team 10
6th Antonio Felix Da Costa  Tag Heur Porsche Formula E Team 8
7th Stoffel Vandoorne DS Penske 6
8th Edordo Mortara Mahindra Racing 7
9th Sacha Fenestraz Nissan Formula E Team 2
10th Taylor Barnard NEOM McLaren Formula E Team 1
11th Kelvin Van Der Linde Abt Cupra 0
12th Jordan King Mahindra Racing 0
13th Paul Aron Envision Racing 0
14th Dan Ticktum ERT Formula E Team 0
15th Jake Hughes NEOM McLaren Formula E Team 0
16th Sergio Sette Camara ERT Formula E Team 0
17th Jehan Daruvala Maserati MSG Racing 0
18th Norman Nato Andretti Formula E 0
DNF Jake Dennis Andretti Formula E 0
DNF Maximilian Guenther Maserati MSG Racing 0
DNF Lucas Di Grassi Abt Cupra 0
DNF Joel Eriksson Envision Racing 0

 

Key Moments from Race 10

  • Dennis started on pole but Cassidy lead the grid down to turn 1
  • Further on into the race it was a Porsche 1-2.
  • Guenther crashed early on in the race and brought out a safety car. He got going again but it was to retire the car.
  • On lap 18, Rowland had a damaged front wing and Mortara had not taken either attack mode.
  • Vandoorne went for a dive between lap 20 and 21 but got damage with his front wing going under his car.
  • He ended up losing control and put Fenestraz onto 2 wheels.
  • Da Costa had a large advantage by the beginning of the end of the race.
  • Nato and Fenestraz ended up in the wall with the Andretti driver managing to get away but the safety car was brought out.
  • By lap 27, we had Da Costa P1, Rowland P2 abd Evans P3.
  • When the safety car came in, there was big battles between Dennis and Wehrlein and Evans and Da Costa.
  • Nato ended up with a 10 second time penalty for his collision with Fenestraz.
  • We had 3 added laps while Barnard overtook his teammate and Dennis.
  • Cassidy overtook Rowland when we headed into added laps while Evans lost 2 places in 2 corners.
  • Da Costa took victory in Berlin with Cassidy P2 and Rowland P3.

Race 10 Results

Position Driver Team Points
1st Antonio Felix Da Costa  Tag Heur Porsche Formula E Team 25
2nd Nick Cassidy Jaguar TCS Racing 19
3rd Oliver Rowland Nissan Formula E Team 15
4th Pascal Wehrlein Tag Heur Porsche Formula E Team 12
5th Jake Dennis Andretti Formula E 13
6th Mitch Evans Jaguar TCS Racing 8
7th Jehan Daruvala Maserati MSG Racing 6
8th Taylor Barnard NEOM McLaren Formula E Team 4
9th Joel Eriksson Envision Racing 2
10th Jean-Eric Vergne DS Penske 1
11th Lucas Di Grassi Abt Cupra 0
12th Jake Hughes NEOM McLaren Formula E Team 0
13th Sergio Sette Camara ERT Formula E Team 0
14th Paul Aron Envision Racing 0
15th Kelvin Van Der Linde Abt Cupra 0
16th Edo Mortara Mahindra Racing 0
17th Dan Ticktum ERT Formula E Team 0
18th Jordan King Mahindra Racing 0
19th Norman Nato Andretti Formula E 0
20th Stoffel Vandoorne DS Penske 0
DNF Sacha Fenestraz Nissan Formula E Team 0
DNF Maximilian Guenther Maserati MSG Racing 0
Antonio Felix da Costa, TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team, Porsche 99X Electric Gen3, leads Oliver Rowland, Nissan Formula E Team, Nissan e-4ORCE 04 Image Credit: Formula E Media Bank

Championship Standings After Round 10

Position Driver Team Points
1st Nick Cassidy Jaguar TCS Racing 140
2nd Pascal Wehrlein Tag Heur Porsche Formula E Team 124
3rd Oliver Rowland Nissan Formula E Team 118
4th Jake Dennis Andretti Formula E 102
5th Mitch Evans Jaguar TCS Racing 97
6th Jean-Eric Vergne DS Penske 84
7th Maximilian Guenther Maserati MSG Racing 65
8th Antonio Felix Da Costa Tag Heur Porsche Formula E Team 59
9th Stoffel Vandoorne DS Penske 43
10th Sam Bird NEOM McLaren Formula E Team 38
11th Sacha Fenestraz Nissan Formula E Team 26
12th Jake Hughes NEOM McLaren Formula E Team 25
13th Norman Nato Andretti Formula E 24
14th Robin Frijns Envision Racing 21
15th Sebastian Buemi Envision Racing 20
16th Nico Mueller Abt Cupra 18
17th Dan Ticktum ERT Formula E Team 12
18th Sergio Sette Camara ERT Formula E Team 11
19th Jehan Daruvala Maserati MSG Racing 8
20th Edoardo Mortara Mahindra Racing 7
21st Taylor Barnard NEOM McLaren Formula E Team 5
22nd Joel Eriksson Envision Racing 2
23rd Lucas Di Grassi Abt Cupra 1
24th Kelvin Van Der Linde Abt Cupra 0
25th Nyck De Vries Mahindra Racing 0
26th Jordan King Mahindra Racing 0
27th Paul Aron Envision Racing 0

Driver of the Weekend

For me, the driver of the weekend is a very tough one. However, I think I will give it to Joel Eriksson. The rookies this weekend have been VERY surprising (and in a good way) which will probably give a lot of team principals headaches as after FULL 1 race weekend, 2 have  already stored in Taylor Barnard and Joel Eriksson. Even though I have have chosen a mix of about 5 drivers, Joel gets my pick. 

Driver with the most improvement needed

I think Norman Nato needs to pick up his pace in terms of racing after this weekend. While he can have some good moments like in qualifying and some bad luck, ultimately, his collision with Fenestraz was not a good light for the French driver, especially as there are only 6 races left and Andretti will more than likely be starting to think about the seat next to Jake Dennis for 2025 and beyond as we head into Gen3 EVO. With the rookie test happening tomorrow with Zane Maloney and Jak Crawford at the team too, the pressure is building on Nato. 

Prediction for Shanghai

The next 2 rounds of Formula E are at the Shanghai International Circuit. While a lot of the circuit is similar to the Formula 1 model, there are only 12 corners and cuts out the long right hander and long straight from the Formula 1 model. I have a feeling this could be a Jake Dennis win on either day. 

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Formula E Season 10 Round 2 & 3: Cassidy Takes Control of the Championship with a Win in Diriyah

 

Round two of the Formula E championship kicked off this weekend in Diriyah, a firm favourite on the electric series calendar, and it certainly did not disappoint. Jean-Eric Vergne led the grid away, taking his first pole position in two seasons, ahead of Mitch Evans in P2. There was a bit of wheel bashing at the start with Vergne taking attack mode very early. This caused him to fall down to P3, as Evans was promoted to the race lead with current world champion Jake Dennis in the hunt in second position. However, in a race where stategy seemed to reign, Evans took attack mode, which allowed Dennis to swoop into the lead. However, the excitement for the world current did not last long – he soon lost the position to Vergne when taking his own attack mode on lap 7. Vergne copied Dennis’ actions the following lap, allowing Evans into contention for the win. Dennis was able to build up a lead in order to take his second attack mode and keep the lead. Evans managed to hold onto P2 while overtaking Vergne on the straight to turn 17.  In the dying stages of the race, there was back and fourth battles between the top three – Evans, Vergne and Dennis. Evans tried to take the lead from Dennis but he overestimated the overtake, went deep into turn 17 and Dennis remained in the lead.

Vergne and Evans continued to battle one another, allowing Dennis to continue to pull clear. Title hopeful Nick Cassidy battled Max Gunther for one of the lower points paying positions, only for this late surge to be hindered by collision with Sam Bird’s McLaren.  The Jaguars struggled in the race due to miscommunication with team orders having an adverse effect. On the last lap, Evans tried to overtake Vergne for second place, he overestimated the gap and fell behind Bird. Dennis claimed victory in the desert by over 10 seconds with Vergne P2 and Cassidy taking the final podium position. Bird finished ahead of Evans in P4 and P5 respectively, Norman Nato claimed P6 ahead of Guenther, Wehrlein claimed P8 whilst Sergio Sette Camara and Robin Frijns rounded out the top ten.

Jake Dennis, Andretti Global, Porsche 99X Electric Gen3 Image Credit: Formula E Media Bank

Round 3:

Round three saw an unexected pole position from the returning Oliver Rowland at Nissan ahead of Robin Frijns in P2 and Nick Cassidy in P3. Frijns managed to take the lead away from Rowland at the start with Ticktum having to pit with front wing damage, this eventually caused the Brit to retire. Cassidy maintained P3 at the start with a huge train of cars following each other, but as the attack modes began to be taken, the Kiwi found himself at the front. And from there, he controlled the entire race, buiding up a gap to allow himself to remain in P1 when attack mode had been completed.  However, despite this, Frijns was able to stay within about two seconds of Cassidy for the entire race, a constant threat lurking at the back of the Kiwi’s Jaguar. Sam Bird, who was having a quiet race, managed to make a move on Sette Camara for P9. In a tactical move by drivers, many did not take any attack mode so they could use it at the end of the race – however, this did not apply to the top five.

Rowland managed to get within a second of Frijns, who in turn was closing in on Cassidy.  Bird attempted a  a move on Sacha Fenestraz but he misjudged it, falling behind Wehrlein and eventually, the McLaren man was forced to retire. Jehan Daruvala had an issue with his brakes and was forced to stop at turn 18, causing a yellow flag. Cassidy began to worry about his consumption of energy in the latter part of the race. As the time ticked down, it emerged that Dennis, Evans, Da Costa, Nato and Sette Camara were all under investigation for overtaking under yellow flags. However, this didn’t stop Nick Cassidy from taking his first win at Jaguar. He held off Frijns who finished P2 in his return to Envision Racing ahead of Rowland who managed to secure a podium. Hughes finished just outside of the podium positions, ahead of Vandoorne. Fenestraz claimed P6 ahead of Wehrlein in P7, Vergne clinched P8 with Gunther taking P9 and Dennis taking the final point. The current world champion also took the fastest lap, however, after investigation, Dennis received a five second time penalty promoting Evans to P10 and Cassidy took the point for fastest lap, alongside the championship lead.

Formula E will return in March.

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Formula E Monaco EPrix-Cassidy Leads The Championship After Victory in Monaco

Qualifying

Qualifying was first up and Group A saw Nato, Fenestraz, Ticktum and Evans all through to the duels. The DS Penske duo of Vandoorne and Vergne both lost their lap times due to a technical infraction which dropped them to the back of the grid.

Gunther, Hughes, Mortara and Sette Camara all went through to the final from Group B. Fenestraz appeared victorious over Dan Ticktum for the first session of quarter finals, Nato beat Evans in the second quarter final, Hughes beat Mortara and Sette Camara beat Gunther in the 3rd and 4th quarter finals respectfully. However, Sette Camara got his best lap time deleted so Gunther took his place in the duel. Before their duel however, it was a nissan quarter final with Nato vs Fenestraz and Fenestraz won that battle. Hughes took victory over Gunther in the second semi final so it was Hughes against Fenestraz for the battle for pole.

It was a tight battle which saw Fenestraz snatch the position from Hughes after Hughes made an error. Fenestraz, however, used more power than he was meant to and got the pole snatched away!

 

Race:
The 29 lap race started by Hughes leading the race with Cassidy trying to make a lot of places up. Cassidy went up to P7 by the end of lap 1. Jake Hughes held the lead from the two Nissans and from Ticktum and Gunther in P5. Dennis managed to get Cassidy on lap 2. Rowland who started P13 is up to P7. By lap 3 rowland managed to make up to P6. A yellow flag then came out on lap 3 due to lotterer and retiring. Rowland took his first attack mode on lap 3. Evans and Gunther were battling on the final sector of lap 3 which Gunther managed to win. Nick Cassidy made a big move on lap 5 to make up 2 places at once. Cassidy made HUGE moves to go up to P2 after Hughes took attack mode! Hughes went down to P4 just ahead of Ticktum. Evans managed to make his way up to P5 after a lunge in the hairpin. Cassidy and Nato took their attack mode together which allowed Ticktum to make his way up to P1. ahead of Evans and Fenestraz. Fenestraz and Cassidy attack their way up the hull after turn 1 and Fenestraz manages to keep the position over the New Zealander.

An image from the ABB FIA Formula E Monaco EPrix. Credit to Formula E.

Lap 13 saw Cassidy lead the race from Evans and Fenestraz who are 2nd and 3rd. Lap 14 saw a titanic battle between Evans and Dennis coming out of the tunnel to battle for position. Gunther had a big moment in the swimming pool section of the track on lap 15but he managed to keep it goether. Evans took the lead of the race at the start of lap 16 . While ths was going on, Vergne and Vandoorne managed to make their way up to P13 and P14 after starting at the back of the grid. Bird and Nato collided after the tunnel and Da Costa suffered a puncture and fell to the back of the grid. Both Maseratis took attack mode on lap 17 and fell to P7 and P8 with Gunther leading the way. Cassidy managed to get the lead of the race on lap 18. Dennis tried to get ahead of Evans into the hairpin but he didn’t manage to make it stick. Hughes and Ricktum Kept switching positions on lap 18 too with Ticktum taking the position. Fenestraz tried to get Dennis into the hairpin but didn’t manage to get him. Ticktum tried to squeeze Vergne into the wall down into the hairpin but Vergne managed to make it out. Mortara appeared to lose his front wing. Ticktum had an issue after he collided with another driver. Nato had to slow down and Gunther stopped on track which resulted on a safety car on lap 22/29.

The safety car came in on lap 25 and Cassidy and Evans went battling for the win with Dennis not far behind. Bird went for attack mode but he managed to miss it! There was no added laps to the race. Muller collided with Bird on lap 28 which resulted in Muller stopping on lap and the safety car being deployed which ended this race. Nick Cassidy won the Monaco EPrix and takes the lead of the championship. Mitch Evans finished P2 and Jake Dennis finished P3. The front row finished P4 and P5 with Fenestraz finishing ahead of Hughes. Ticktum managed to hold onto P6 with Vergne going from p22 to P7. Buemi finished P8 with Vandoorne finishing P9 and Evan’s teammate Sam Bird collecting the final point position. Sam Bird later received a penalty so Pascal Wehrlein picked up P10.

The concludes Formula E for 1 month where we head to Jakara for a double header!

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Formula E Sao Paulo E Prix Race Report: Evans holds off Cassidy for the Win

Qualifying:

The first ever FIA Formula E Qualifying in Sao Paulo started off badly for Sergio Sette Camara. In his home race, he stopped on track but managed to get going again. Lucas Di Grassi hit the wall and found himself out of qualifying too. Vandoorne, Cassidy, Mortara and Hughes all managed to get through to the duels from group A. Bird, Guenther, Da Costa and Evans were the victors from Group B after Frijns stopped on track earlier on in the session.

Mortara and Cassidy went head to head for the first quarter final with Mortara taking victory. Vandoorne took victory over Hughes in the second quarter final, Da Costa won over Guenther and Evans over Bird in the 3rd and 4th quarter final respectfully. Vandoorne claimed the win against Mortara in the first semi final and Da Costa over Evans in the second semi final. It was a battle between Da Costa and Vandoorne for the final and the reigning world champion Stoffel Vandoorne took victory over Da Costa.

Race:

The Sao Paulo E Prix got underway and from the get go, it was 31 laps of chaos. Da Costa got a good start fromthe front row, however, it was Vandoorne who lead the pack. The chaos continued as the front pack went 4 wide through the first two corners. Norman Nato got pushed into the back of another car and had to retire from the race. Eduardo Mortara’s misery continued as he picked up damage in the opening lap and had to retire. Lotterer was another casualty – starting from the back of the grid, his race ending in retirement in the early stages.  It was a slip stream frenzy down towards turn 1 on the opening lap, with Guenther going wide.  His race didn’t improve as he was handed a penalty for not following the race directors procedures.

Bird was on the charge from P10 as he wanted to make the most post penalty from Hyderabad as he passed the Neom McLaren of Rene Rast. His success continued when he dispatched of Jake Hughes, making his way up the order. Championship leader Wehrlein started in P18 and was a man on a mission to make the most of it, trying to attack Muller. Once he had dispatched of the ABT car, he proceeded to climb the order, getting past Guenther on the next lap. Vandoorne and Da Costa switched positions throughout the opening stages, with Mitch Evans in the Jaguar joining the battle for the top prize.  Fenestraz stopped on lap 7, leading to a safety car but before it was activated, Bird managed to sweep past Hughes.

Norman Nato, Nissan Formula E Team, Nissan e-4ORCE 04
clashes with
Jake Hughes, NEOM McLaren Formula E Team, e-4ORCE 04
(Image Credit: Formula E Media)

After the short safety car period, Da Costa made a move on Cassidy at the front, before passing Evans and began to challenge Vandoorne for the lead. Cassidy then made a two car overtake for the lead  and championship protaganist Dennis got hit by Ticktum, ending his chances of a good result. Vandoorne, Evans and Da Costa all passed Cassidy, dropping the Kiwi back out of the podium places.

However, Cassidy fought back to snatch the lead away, holding it throughout a brief safety car period. Da Costa disposed of  Vandoorne for P2. Da Costa, Rast, Wehrlein and Evans were all under investigation for overtake under yellow flag conditions but these were ruled to have no further action. Wehrlein continued up the order, fighting his way past Vergne as Da Costa made a mistake in the latter stages of the race, losing his shot at a podium place. Cassidy continued to excel, pulling a gap at the front of the race as Wehrlein took attack mode but he was instructed to hold position and to save energy behind his teammate Da Costa.

Four extra laps were added onto the race due to the safety cars as Bird managed to pass Vergne to take a potential podium in the dying stages of the race. He then proceeded to snatch away P3 from Vandoorne. However, Evans was beginning to show momentum, passing Cassidy in the last added laps, the pair had afight to the line as they went side by side towards the penultimate corner of the race but Evans held off the Envision to take victory.  Bird finished P3 with Da Costa, Vergne, Vandoorne and Wehrlein finishing off the top 7. The Neom McLaren duo of Hughes and Rast finished P8 and P9 respectfully whilst Buemi snatched P10 to round off the points positions.

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What We Learned From Formula E Testing

image courtesy of Sergio Sette Formula e

Earlier this week saw the return of Formula E, as the teams took to the Ricardo Tormo Circuit in Valencia to test their cars ahead of the 2020/21 Season. BMWi Andretti’s Maximilian Guenther was the quickest of all over one lap, but what can we actually learn from Formula E testing? Let’s find out!

Changes to Testing

Last year, the Ricardo Tormo circuit implemented a tight chicane into the first corner, in order to try and replicate some of the characteristics of Formula E’s famous (or infamous) street circuits. This year, though, that was removed in an attempt to minimise the risk of the cars sustaining damage. That wasn’t the only change either. Due to the somewhat creative interpretations of where the track limit was last year, it was decided that this year they would monitor it using sensors. The increased awareness of track limits also helped with the batteries’ operating temperatures. Unfortunately, because of all the changes to the track, comparing times with last year would not give an accurate representation of how the technology has developed since then.

Rookies Impressed:

Every year the quality of the Formula E Grid seems to get better and better and this year is no different. The new faces this year, Venturi’s Norman Nato, Andretti’s Jake Dennis, and Virgin’s Nick Cassidy, sprinted out of the starting blocks, posting competitive times almost immediately. By the end of testing, their quickest laps were all within 4 tenths of the overall fastest, Max Guenther, with Cassidy and Nato both quicker than their more experienced teammates.

NIO Resurgence:

It’s fair to say NIO have struggled to be competitive in recent years, often being the slowest car on the grid. However, that seems to have changed this year, as an all-new powertrain helped Oliver Turvey finish testing 10th quickest. NIO also completed the most laps of anyone with a total 535 across all three days; valuable data to help get to grips with the new system. As spectators, we can but hope that the clear improvement in one-lap pace, also means an improvement to their long run pace.

As Tight As Ever:

One of the best things about Formula E is the closeness of the racing, and this year it’s set to be the closest field ever. At the end of testing, all the drivers were covered by a little over half a second. The young Max Guenther lead the pack, but Audi’s Lucas Di Grassi brought up the rear just a mere 0.578 seconds behind. Audi themselves seemed to be a tad behind the others, perhaps as a result of their decision to pull out of the all electric series after this season, so that they can focus on Le Mans. With a field covered by so little, however, this season is going to be as close as ever. Any championship hopefuls will need to be incredibly consistent.

So now that testing has concluded, we have learned many things about what to expect in this coming season. NIO look like they can be competitive again, and anybody can win any race. We look destined to witness one of the best seasons of Formula E to date: you won’t want to miss it when it kicks off in Santiago on January 16th.

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Cassidy the Super Formula victor in Suzuka

With live coverage finally in our neck of the woods, available on YouTube rather than a suspect stream, there’s every reason to be watching Super Formula this season. And if today’s first round at Suzuka, one of the all-time great Grand Prix circuits, was anything to go by, with Nick Cassidy storming through the field to win and attrition aplenty, it’ll be worth getting into.

The race started with Tadasuke Makino, formerly of F2, cementing his lead ahead of the battling Alex Palou. The opening laps remained fairly static, with few successful moves until Lap 7, when Cassidy, who qualified 12th, pitted for soft tyres. This would turn out to be a masterstroke, as only a few laps later, both 18 year old debutant Tristan Charpentier and stalwart Ryo Hirakawa went off at 130R and into the barriers, bringing out the first safety car.

This was where the madness kicked in. Palou, who had been straining to get past Makino at the start, was slapped with a drive-through penalty and served it just before the Safety Car was deployed, but the field bunching up did alleviate some of the damage. Dan Ticktum was slow to get into his pit box due to his Mugen team double-stacking, and a mechanic even acrobatically jumped over Cassidy’s car to change the wheels as quickly as possible.

Yuhi Sekiguchi’s car appeared to momentarily stop in the pitlane before he was able to get it going, but a lap later he pulled back into the pits and became the third of what would turn out to be a long list of retirees. Meanwhile, Cassidy was on the charge, his perfectly-timed pitstop jumping him up into 5th before he dispatched first Makino then Yuji Kunimoto to place himself 3rd. Shortly after, the safety car was out again: Kazuki Nakajima beached his TOM’S Toyota into the Degner 1 gravel, with a distracted Harrison Newey then following him into retirement at Degner 2.

Five retirements within 15 laps just signals the frantic drama Super Formula is good for, and a second safety car three laps later when Hiroaki Ishiura pulled into the pits and Palou’s machine gave up on him only furthered that point. From then on, Cassidy was into a prime position to win a race which looked for all the world yesterday evening to be an exercise in damage limitation. Kamui Kobayashi, the on-track leader, would have to pit again to use a different compound.

A third safety car was brought out this time by Makino, who’s car suffered a right-rear wheel nut failure and sent him into the gravel beside the run up to 130R. Makino would prove, finally, to be the last of the retirements, but there were still twists and turns up the road with Kobayashi trying to find the perfect slot to pit in, Cassidy managing to keep within arms’ reach, and the others jostling for podium/lower positions. Ticktum began to fall down the field, his airbox lighting glowing red (this signals a lack of attack mode – versus green for full, and blue for halfway used) and tyres appearing to be spent.

The final laps proved to be the killer for Kobayashi’s hopes of a strong finish. The late Safety Cars prevented the ex-Sauber F1 driver from banking a good result on a happy hunting ground for him, finishing tenth. Cassidy took the on-track lead on the final lap, and Kenta Yamashita was kept at bay in the end by Naoki Yamamoto, last season’s title winner. Cassidy lost that title by a point, but already, he’s taken first blood and cemented a troubling marker for his rivals.

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