The first race of the Formula E New York City ePrix series was held on Saturday afternoon (16/7/2022). In the race that took place at the Brooklyn Highway Circuit, Envision Racing team racer, Nick Cassidy came out as the winner of a race full of drama with the presence of 2 Red Flags and rainy weather in the middle of the race.
The first race of the New York City ePrix series is planned to last 45 minutes. After the start, Nick Cassidy who started from pole position immediately shot and maintained his leading position. Meanwhile, the exciting duel involved several drivers behind Cassidy such as Lucas di Grassi, Sebastien Buemi (Nissan e.dams) and Stoffel Vandoorne (Mercedes-EQ).
In the early laps, there were incidents involving several drivers such as the DS Techeetah team racer, Jean-Eric Vergne who slipped to 14th position. When the race entered the 15th minute, Cassidy was still leading the race followed by Di Grassi and Buemi. Meanwhile, Vandoorne and Robin Frinjs are fighting for the fourth place.
In the middle of the race at 20 minutes, there was an incident involving the Mahindra team driver, Alexander Sims and the temporary standings leader, Edoardo Mortara who bought the Venturi team. These two drivers collided on the harpin, even so both drivers were still able to continue the race.
Then after that, Lucas Di Grassi used FanBoost to get close to Cassidy, but unfortunately, Stoffel Vandoorne who rose to 3rd position managed to overtake Di Grassi in the 25th minute. Then Di Grassi had to drop to fourth position after he was overtaken by Robin Frinjs.
Then entering the 25th minute, the race had to be stopped because it suddenly rained on the circuit. Then the red flag marking the stop of the race had to be raised due to several racers crashing into the wall in the middle of the sudden rainy weather. After the rain subsided, the race resumed with Robin Frinjs successfully taking over the lead after the restart.
Not long ago, several drivers such as Nick Cassidy, Stoffel Vandoorne, Lucas Di Grassi and Pascal Wehrlein (Porsche) returned to the sixth corner due to bulldozing a puddle. As a result, the Red Flag had to be raised again. After that, the race was decided not to resume considering the condition of the circuit which was quite dangerous in the middle of the heavy rain.
In accordance with article 41.9 of the sporting regulations, if the race is not recommended, then the result of the race is taken on the last 2 laps before the race is stopped. That way, it was Nick Cassidy who finally came out as the winner of the first race of the New York City ePrix series. This is the first victory for the racer from New Zealand in the electric car race.
Lucas Di Grassi and teammate Cassidy, Robin Frinjs, who led the race before the second red flag, had to settle for finishing third. Mercedes team driver, Stoffel Vandoorne took fourth place ahead of the interim leader, Edoardo Mortara who had to settle for finishing fifth.
In the provisional ranking, Edoardo Mortara still leads the drivers’ standings with 142 points. The Swiss racer is only 5 points ahead of Stoffel Vandoorne in second position. The winner of the first race of the New York City ePrix, Nick Cassidy is still in 11th position with 44 points.
