The Panasonic Jaguar Racing team scored its first Formula E points as Mitch Evans and Adam Carroll both finished in the top 10 in the Julius Baer Mexico City ePrix.
A series of penalties elevated the drivers to 10th [Carroll] and 11th [Evans] on the grid, and both were in the thick of the battle for points throughout. Evans got ahead of Carroll during the mid-race pitstop phase, and when Nico Prost punted Nick Heidfeld into a spin late on, which also took the second Mahindra of Felix Rosenqvist out of contention, the Kiwi was promoted to fourth place.
“Today was a crazy race from lap one,” he said. “I managed to overtake Esteban Gutierrez on the straight and lined up behind Adam. After the first safety car we got into a nice rhythm and I ran on really good energy levels and a strong pace. Adam and I were on slightly different strategies, which opened up the opportunity for me to overtake him. The race got quite juicy towards the end with both Mahindra cars and Nico Prost crashing into each other, I don’t know how my I-TYPE didn’t sustain any damage. I was very lucky. To finish with double points today is huge for the team. We came so close in Buenos Aires and everyone has worked incredibly hard since then, so it’s a massive reward for everyone at Panasonic Jaguar Racing.”
Carroll had to take evasive action to avoid the melee, but was still pleased to have scored his first Formula E points.
“For our fourth race ever, it’s a really positive day and reward for some long days,” he said. “It’s a complete team effort and a fantastic day for Panasonic Jaguar Racing. Hopefully, this is the start of more to come but we are also keeping our feet on the ground and we still have a lot to learn in this championship. The reality is this championship is very competitive, so to just score points, especially for a new team is a big achievement. So for both of us to score points today is absolutely brilliant.”
The team’s haul of 16 points has lifted it off the foot of the table and above Venturi into ninth place in the Teams’ Standings. While Evans’s 12 points for fourth means he’s leapt up the Drivers’ Standings into 11th place, while Carroll is now 17th.
Attention now turns to round five of the series, which takes place on the streets of Monaco on May 13.