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Following the unfortunate shunt that saw Bird collect Evans with both Jaguars vying for the podium if not the race win in Hyderabad, the hopes were that both would set the record straight and capitalise on the I-TYPE 6's performance in Cape Town.
Though Evans made it through to the Semis in the qualifying and lined up fourth on the grid, Bird crashed heavily at one of the quickest parts of the track - hitting Edoardo Mortara's stricken Maserati MSG Racing machine. It was a heavy enough impact that his team couldn't make repairs in time for the race. Another point-less race weekend.
"The team worked super hard," Bird said. "We were well prepared and we invested so much and we're always quick. We're in the top three or four every time we're out on track. When that's taken away from us, it's really tricky.
"The boys are really down and I'm down. I just want a good result again, I feel like I deserve it, but it's been a long time. I'm doing well but I don't have much to show for it."
It's a double blow given he was unable to start the E-Prix, his post-Hyderabad penalty will now carry over to Sao Paolo in the form of a five-place grid drop.
"We had a completely destroyed vehicle and Sam didn't make it to the race," said team boss James Barclay. "As a team, we've already shown that we can get the cars ready for the race even in difficult conditions. But with all that damage, that was simply impossible.
"We showed that the car is great is fast. Luck will be on our side again, we just have to keep at it."
Evans: "We couldn't capitalise"
Evans flew from fourth and set about conserving his usable energy but an overpower infringement over the bumps at the high-speed Cape Town Street Circuit saw him penalised with a drive-through. That was that for the New Zealander, as a potential podium turned into 11th and a second consecutive non-score.
"Today was another disappointing setback for my championship aspirations," said Evans. "We know we have an incredibly fast car but I wasn't able to get the points that I think the team deserved. We'll try again in Sao Paulo."
"We're still analyzing the data to see how Mitch's overpower violation came about," said Team Principal James Barclay. "Depending on that we will decide how to proceed.
"It's very frustrating because we were very strong again. Mitch held fourth place securely and we saved energy for later in the race but it is what it is. We need to understand where the problem was and fix it."