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Nick Cassidy, a driver for Jaguar TCS Racing, recently spoke to The Kiwi about his challenging season. After the Diriyah race, Cassidy’s position in the Drivers’ Championship has slipped due to other teams catching up to Jaguar’s early-season success. However, the upcoming race in Monaco presents a fresh start for Cassidy, as he had a memorable victory there last year while racing for Envision Racing. This adds to his excitement about returning to the principality.
“I’m really thrilled to be racing in Monaco,” Cassidy said. “It’s definitely one of the best events on the calendar, and I have special memories from last year. It was one of the most significant moments in my career, so I’m looking forward to going back.”
While Cassidy and his team are confident in their abilities, they acknowledge that they currently don’t have the strongest package. They are aware of the need to work hard to improve their performance.
Cassidy’s Season 10 after Diriyah has been challenging, with various obstacles causing him to fall in the Drivers’ Standings. Many teams have caught up to Jaguar’s early-season pace, impacting their chances of success. Despite this setback, Cassidy feels justified in his previous statements that Jaguar was not the team to beat. “It would be great to bring up my comments from back then and show everyone because no one believed me at the time, but I think everyone believes me now!”
After the recent race in Misano, Jaguar left feeling unfulfilled, as they didn’t reach their full potential. Cassidy retired in the first race due to a collision with Jean-Eric Vergne but managed to secure a podium finish on the Sunday. He praised the Porsche powertrain as the best on the grid. Despite the challenges faced, Cassidy believes the team should have been satisfied with their achievements in Misano. He also expresses discontent with the inclusion of certain circuits in the calendar.
“They’re [Porsche] the most effective.
“I believe I also mentioned DS, Maserati, McLaren, Nissan, Cupra, and so for us to secure P3 when I think that there were probably 14 cars stronger than us in Misano was a significant accomplishment.
“But at the factory, I’m analyzing data, reviewing theories, working on development because I’m not giving up, we just have to work harder, find performance.
“Now the Championship is only racing on dedicated tracks, it favors other teams more than us, and we just have to strive to improve in those situations, so yes, we’re still in the game but we know it’s going to be challenging because we don’t have the best package in those situations.
The inclusion of these types of tracks on the calendar was one of the major talking points during and after the Misano E-Prix weekend, replacing the popular Rome street circuit as the Italy venue for Season 10. Many drivers, including Cassidy’s teammate Mitch Evans, expressed their concerns about the addition of more tracks of a similar nature, such as Silverstone. Despite the evolution of Formula E cars, Cassidy is not convinced that this is a contributing factor.
“I think discussing the evolution of the cars and the increase in performance is just an excuse.
“I believe the best track I’ve driven a Formula E car on was Rome.
“If you ask all the drivers, 90 percent would tell you Rome and maybe 10 percent would say Riyadh.
“Those are the two best tracks for us, so it’s definitely not a car problem, I would say, but it’s best if I don’t say too much.”
Since this interview, the GEN3 Evo car has been launched ahead of this weekend’s E-Prix, and Cassidy confirms that the preparations for racing it next season have already begun.
“That work started quite some time ago.
“That’s one of the incredible things about being a manufacturer driver. With Jag, you have been involved in that process and I’m really enjoying discussing the strengths and weaknesses of the current car, and what we need from the next generation, so that’s definitely a topic for us and we’re pushing forward on that as well.”