Mitch Evans powered to his first victory of the season at the inaugural São Paulo E-Prix. The Kiwi was joined on the podium in third by teammate Sam Bird after dominating on the fast Sambadrome track. The double podium has catapulted Jaguar TCS Racing into third in the teams’ standings in the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship.
In front of 23,000 passionate fans, Jaguar TCS Racing have had an almighty comeback in Brazil after a frustrating start to Season 9. Both Jaguar drivers demonstrated skill and speed in the Jaguar I-TYPE 6, combined with a perfectly executed team strategy.
Kiwi Mitch Evans lined up third on the grid after a strong qualifying performance. Mitch made a positive start, holding his position and later overtaking Porsche’s Da Costa on Lap 7 taking him to second place. Despite dropping back to P4 during the nail-biting 35-lap race, Mitch maintained a strong energy strategy and seized his moment to take the lead.
Brit Sam delivered one of his best drives of the season, climbing an incredible seven positions after starting in tenth position. He had a favourable energy strategy which allowed him to make his way up the order to battle with Envision Racing’s Nick Cassidy at the chequered flag. Sam rounded off the podium and also took home the TAG Heuer Fastest Lap accolade, providing him with an additional point.
Jaguar-powered Envision took the runners-up spot following a last lap fight with Mitch. Kiwi Nick Cassidy took a worthy second place, making Formula E history for Jaguar.
The dominant result puts Sam Bird sixth in the 2023 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship drivers’ standings, while Mitch has climbed to ninth.
What an incredible day! A historic first with three Jaguars dominating the podium. Today’s result and the team’s performance after a few challenging weekends was all the more sweet. With a strong car and a proven team, we knew it was about executing a clean weekend with a great strategy and that’s what we did today. Mitch and Sam drove exceptionally, showing patience in a strategic race and raw speed when it was needed. I would like to thank our technical partner WAE who have worked tirelessly for this result and to our amazing commercial partners. We wanted to put on a great show for the Brazilian fans and we delivered just that, it’s a special day and one which we will enjoy celebrating.
JAMES BARCLAY
JAGUAR TCS RACING TEAM PRINCIPAL
This win has come at the perfect time, because we’ve had a tough start and the Jaguar has been quick. To finally get a victory is incredible – Nick pushed me all the way. This is all down to the hard work of the team, there’s a lot of graft that goes in, so much work into the strategy, to try and put it together is not easy so I’m super happy to get some big points on the board.
MITCH EVANS
JAGUAR TCS RACING DRIVER, #9
Amazing for Jaguar TCS Racing to get the podium locked out. Massive hats off to the team here and back at base, it’s a brilliant result. I got fastest lap too, it’s good points for the team and now we can look forward to Berlin.
SAM BIRD
JAGUAR TCS RACING DRIVER, #10
Jaguar TCS Racing will compete in the seventh and eighth rounds of the 2023 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship in Berlin, Germany on 22 and 23 April.
