Cassidy Loses Second NYC Pole To Grid Penalty, da Costa Inherits
Grid Talk Reporter 16:04 17/07/2022
Nick Cassidy has lost his New York Formula E race two pole after it emerged the repairs to his Envision Audi following Saturday’s huge crash triggered a 30-place penalty.
Both Cassidy and Mercedes driver Stoffel Vandoorne are racing with new chassis because their previous cars were too badly damaged to continue in the event following the multi-car aquaplaning accident that brought race one to an early end. First time winner Cassidy, who regained first place on countback despite being first car to crash, saw his tub destroyed and a large section of the rear of his car including the spec battery replaced ahead of the 11pm local curfew time for parc ferme conditions. He then went out and appeared to have reprised his pole position of yesterday only for the FIA to then reveal that the repairs had included requiring a fifth RESS radiator of the season - which triggered the penalty that has elevated António Félix da Costa to pole. That change had been documented by the FIA earlier in the morning, but the penalty could not be applied until the grid was set, so Formula E still declared Cassidy the polesitter at first.
Stoffel Vandoorne and Mitch Evans got furthest of the championship-chasing quartet, but were eliminated in the quarter-finals by Cassidy and Alexander Sims respectively. They’ll start fifth (Vandoorne) and sixth Evans. That’s much better off than championship leader Edoardo Mortara. His points lead over Vandoorne was already down to five after his penalty in Saturday’s race, and a brake by wire problem early in group qualifying today means he’ll have to fight through from 21st in race two. Jean-Éric Vergne is also down the grid, in 13th. But his problem was self-inflicted as he crashed his DS Techeetah at the chicane. Sims produced one of his strongest performances of his final Formula E season to put his Mahindra second on the grid alongside André Lotterer’s Porsche.
Sérgio Sette Câmara also starred for home team Dragon Penske. He’d been quick in practice all weekend but crashed heavily in race one qualifying. This time he kept it clean and was fastest of all in group A before taking fifth on the grid. His team-mate Antonio Giovinazzi was much more competitive than usual too and qualified 12th. Fellow American team Avalanche Andretti also had a strong session at home, with home racer Oliver Askew and Jake Dennis sharing row five behind reigning world champion Nyck de Vries.
