Envision Racing's Nick Cassidy seized the lead in the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship after winning Saturday's action-packed Monaco E-Prix.
Cassidy led home Jaguar's Mitch Evans who was snapping at his rival's heels when a late Safety Car sealed the race's fate and the Kiwi's emphatic win.
Although poleman Jake Hughes enjoyed a clean getaway from Sacha Fenestraz, Norman Nato and Dan Ticktum, Max Guenther and Mitch Evans, Cassidy was on a charge from the outset, jumping from P9 to P7.
On lap 7, a decisive move at the Fairmont hairpin around the outside of Jake Dennis and Pascal Wehrlein put Cassidy on a mission, the Envision driver hitting the front by lap 7 through the first round of ATTACK MODE activations.
He was hounded for all his worth by Evans' Jaguar however, but Cassidy never put a foot wrong under the pressure of his countryman.
💚 Your championship leader!@NickCassidy_ #MonacoEPrix pic.twitter.com/ucLwMWK4cE
— ABB FIA Formula E World Championship (@FIAFormulaE) May 6, 2023
Avalanche Andretti's Jake Dennis, after tearing through the field from P11 to third, came up short in his attempts to remain in close contention with the leading pair, but he nevertheless claimed the final spot on the podium.
Sacha Fenestraz launched his race with the bit between his teeth after his post-qualifying demotion from pole, the Frenchman steering his Nissan home to fourth, just ahead of McLaren's Hughes and NIO's Dan Ticktum.
DS Penske's Jean-Eric Vergne recovered from the very back of the grid to finish seventh, just ahead of Sebastien Buemi while reigning FE champion and teammate Stoffel Vandoorne was able to climb to the points with ninth in his DS, with Jaguar's Sam Bird completing the top ten.
At the end of the day, Cassidy's second consecutive win in the championship put the Kiwi 21 points clear of Wehrlein in the standing, with Dennis sitting third, 25 points adrift.
In fourth and fifth place in the standings, Evans and Vergne closed out the top five, respectively 27 and 34 points behind.
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