Sam Bird enters this weekend’s inaugural Cape Town E-Prix in need of a huge result, should he wish to keep his title hopes alive, after crashing out in Hyderabad in emphatic fashion at the previous round.
Remarkably, this weekend’s trip to South Africa is the fifth round of the 2022/23 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship and an equally important one for Bird, who retired in Hyderabad after crashing into his team-mate. The Brit looked fast in India but ultimately ran too deep at Turn Three, resulting in the Jaguar TCS Racing driver ploughing into several drivers like skittles. In true Bird fashion, he immediately apologised for causing the mess, before switching his focus to this weekend.
His second retirement of the season resulted in the Brit dropping to sixth in the Drivers’ Championship, further emphasising that he needs to start closing the gap.
Looking ahead to the second consecutive new venue of the season, Bird is “particularly excited” to be heading to South Africa, with the veteran “confident” that his side are “as prepared as possible” to push for a podium.
“As Formula E racing drivers, we are incredibly lucky to travel to new destinations and Cape Town is one that I’m particularly excited about. We’ve focussed on getting to grips with the new track, our second so far this season, and being as prepared as possible. I’m confident that our team and the Jaguar I-TYPE 6 have the performance available to achieve points and podiums in Cape Town.”
“My car has so much potential” – Mitch Evans
On the other side of the Jaguar garage, Mitch Evans also needs a huge performance, with the New Zealander having had a potential podium taken from him after the collision with his team-mate. There was absolutely nothing Evans could do to avoid being hit, with the driver having hit the apex of the corner as Bird went into the rear of him.
It was an unjust way for Evans’ weekend in India to end, with him having shown exceptional pace, good enough for pole position. A podium would’ve helped him massively, with the New Zealander having dropped to a disappointing twelfth in the Drivers’ Championship. With a quarter of the season already completed, Evans must deliver some strong results as soon as possible to create a title charge.
Whilst his results haven’t been brilliant so far this season, Evans heads into Cape Town knowing his “car has so much potential”, with the Jaguar-powered cars having looked seriously strong all year so far.
The New Zealander is targeting pole position once again this weekend and is aiming to take some “positivity” into the weekend, given how fast he was in Hyderabad.
“I’m really looking forward to taking on the race in Cape Town. My car has so much potential, it’s got the pace and efficiency needed to succeed, and we learn more from it each time we race, so we will take that positivity and apply it to the Cape Town E-Prix. Qualifying will be particularly important for me as I’m aiming for front of the grid again after getting my first Pole position of the season in Hyderabad.”
