The 2023-24 ABB System E World Championship season concludes this weekend with a pair of races on a singular indoor/outside circuit constructed on the ExCeL exhibition house in London.
After 14 rounds, seven of the sequence’ 22 full-time drivers stay in championship competition, with a complete of 58 factors — together with three for a pole place and one for a quickest lap — nonetheless up for grabs.
Present factors chief Nick Cassidy heads to the British capital as the favourite, regardless of the wide-open nature of the competition. The Jaguar TCS Racing driver, who’s in his first season with the workforce after shifting from buyer outfit Envision Racing, grabbed the lead on the first Berlin race again in Might with a surprising victory through which he carved his method via the sphere after a masterful show of power administration.
Cassidy could have had a torrid time final day trip in Portland, the place he failed to attain in each races throughout the weekend, however he was victorious from pole in London final 12 months — a season the place he was additionally in championship competition — which bodes effectively for his possibilities of locking up a primary System E title there this weekend. Like his two nearest rivals, Cassidy has obtained two wins to his identify already this season, claiming victory within the third race of the season in Saudi Arabia in addition to in Berlin. However crucially, he has extra podium finishes than anybody else.
Respiratory down his neck is his fellow New Zealander and Jaguar teammate Mitch Evans, and there have been indicators of rigidity between the 2 all season as they’ve been left to battle it out for championship supremacy.
Evans had one thing of a slower begin to the season, not reaching the rostrum till spherical 4 in Sao Paulo, however a win on the streets of Monaco gave his marketing campaign a shot within the arm. He adopted that up with victory in Race 1 in Shanghai, and was additionally triumphant within the first Portland race till a penalty for a collision with NEOM McLaren’s Jake Hughes relegated him to eighth.
Nick Cassidy and Mitch Evans have each starred for Jaguar TCS Racing this season, though it hasn’t all been clean crusing between the 2. Andrew Ferraro/Motorsport Pictures
TAG Heuer Porsche’s pairing of Pascal Wehrlein and Antonio Felix da Costa are subsequent up. Wehrlein is equal on factors with Evans — on 155, 13 off Cassidy — however has had a less-than-stellar document in London which may show to be his undoing. Within the final six races on the ExCeL, Wehrlein has solely completed within the high 5 as soon as. Nonetheless, he has extra factors finishes than any of the opposite championship contenders this season, managing to stay constant the place others have had peaks and troughs to various levels.
Da Costa, in the meantime, heads to London on a scorching streak. We arguably shouldn’t even be speaking about him being a championship contender, after he had three point-less finishes at the beginning of the 12 months which led to him dealing with the exit door at Porsche. However a outstanding turnaround — which had an aborted begin within the first Misano race which he received solely to later be disqualified from — has seen da Costa take 4 wins from the final 5 races, together with every of the final three consecutively.
That places him inside one win of the sequence’ all-time document (13, by Sebastien Buemi), matching the consecutive win document once more, having already shared it with Buemi from his earlier hat trick in 2019-20, and inside two of essentially the most wins in a season document. The Portuguese driver’s latest run of kind additionally moved him forward of Nissan driver Oliver Rowland, who stays in championship competition regardless of lacking the final two rounds because of sickness.
A winner in Misano, Rowland has mastered the artwork of peloton-style racing caused within the present GEN3 period, securing sturdy outcomes for the considerably unfancied Nissan powertrain in comparison with the Jaguars and Porsches. Cassidy’s double non-score in Portland actually helped Rowland’s trigger considerably, however 36 factors adrift with two rounds to go, he’s gone from being a darkish horse to an outsider.
Two extra outsiders are DS Penske’s Jean-Eric Vergne and reigning champion Jake Dennis of Andretti.
Vergne could also be main the sequence with the variety of pole positions — each all-time (17), and this season, together with Wehrlein (3) — however the Stellantis package deal that DS Penske runs has been missing in race trim. Except he wins one of many two races this weekend, Vergne stands to have his second winless season within the final three, and solely the third of his 9 full formulation E campaigns.
It’s been a irritating marketing campaign for Vergne, regardless of the odd optimistic second, and the identical will be stated for Dennis. The British driver hasn’t received because the second spherical of the season in Saudi Arabia, having not managed to match the late-season cost that led to him claiming his and Andretti’s first System E crown final 12 months.
Whereas he’s the third Porsche-powered driver to nonetheless be within the championship struggle — and is a two-time London winner who’s solely failed to achieve the rostrum there as soon as in six makes an attempt — a 45-point deficit makes it nearly a certainty he received’t be retaining his title.
Nonetheless, miracles do occur. And this season, as with the 9 that got here earlier than it, has confirmed that System E is something however predictable.
Each London races will air reside on the CBS broadcast community beginning at 12pm ET each days, in addition to the Roku community, which additionally airs apply and qualifying classes.
