Jaguar’s Mitch Evans held off Nick Cassidy and team mate Sam Bird on the final lap to win a hectic Sao Paulo Eprix.
In a race filled with lead changes, Evans overtook Cassidy in the closing laps and then resisted the Envision driver’s attack over the final lap to win by two tenths of a second, with the top three covered by just over half a second at the chequered flag.
At the start, Stoffel Vandoorne leapt out into the lead from pole position with Antonio Felix da Costa holding off Mitch Evans for second place. There was carnage between turns two and three, with Norman Nato, Edoardo Mortara and Andre Lotterer all suffering heavy damage due to the pack compacting before the hairpin, however all three cars continued with Nato recovering to the pits.
On the second lap, Sebastien Buemi dropped to near the back of the field after colliding with Maximilian Guenther as they navigated the turn five-six chicane. Dan Ticktum missed the first chicane at the start of lap three, but came to a full stop on the escape road as per the race director’s instructions before rejoining the track.
At the start of lap five, leader Vandoorne opted to take the first of his four minutes of Attack Mode, surrendering first position to Da Costa but slotting into second ahead of Evans and Nick Cassidy’s Envision in fourth. After his minute expired, Vandoorne slipstreamed the Porsche down the pit straight to retake the lead into the chicane at the start of lap seven. Later in the lap, both Evans and Cassidy would also overtake Da Costa, demoting the Porsche down to fourth.
Sacha Fenestraz stopped his Nissan on the exit of the turn five-six chicane, prompting the Safety Car to be deployed while his car was recovered. The race resumed at the start of lap 12, with Vandoorne leading Evans and Cassidy away.
It became clear that leading the race was becoming a disadvantage for the leader, who had to use more energy than those behind who could coast in their slipstream. This resulted in some very strategic racing, as Da Costa moved his way back up to second place by passing Cassidy and then by the start of the second green flag lap, before Cassidy passed both Da Costa and Vandoorne on the pit straight to move into the lead. However, Cassidy then took his Attack Mode, dropping back to third, before using his extra power to move back into the lead mid way through lap 15.
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The Safety Car was deployed for a second time on lap 16 due to Jake…
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