Nick Cassidy wins second Diriyah ePrix ahead of Frijns

The second ePrix in Saudi Arabia's Diriyah fell to Nick Cassidy. The driver from New Zeallannd managed to keep Robin Frijns just behind him in his Jaguar. Third place was for Oliver Rowland (Nissan). With this victory, Cassidy is also the new leader in the championship.

Robin Frijns was the only Envision Racing driver to appear at the start of the second ePrix in Saudi Arabia, but he made sure his car was seen. Teammate Sébastien Buemi could only watch the race after his monocoque was damaged in a crash in qualifying. Fortunately for the reigning constructors' champions, Frijns managed to keep up the honour, with a phenomenal start from the dirty side of the grid. Coming from second place, the Dutchman dived into the first corner to the right of polesitter Oliver Rowland, with the Briton having no choice but to acknowledge his superiority.

Cassidy and Frijns battle for P1

After Frijns grabbed his first attack mode, he lost first place to Nick Cassidy (Jaguar). The New Zealander managed to grab a lead of over a second and had enough margin to also take the attack mode and stay in the lead. Frijns reacted immediately, also taking his second and final attack mode, allowing him to stay on Cassidy's track. Behind the leading pair, Rowland was driving in no man's land, and at a second or two a long ribbon followed all the way up to (at the time) number 16 Nyck de Vries.

For a long time it seemed that the race was going to be a duel between Cassidy and Frijns, who both use a Jaguar powertrain. Although the Dutchman was warned to be careful with his energy, he managed to get closer and closer to Cassidy. However, an overtaking opportunity hardly occurred. On the other hand, the leading pair built a six-second gap to Oliver Rowland.

After Sam Bird (McLaren) crashed out after a tap to the wall and then Jehan Daruvala pulled his car over due to brake failure, the field shifted quite a bit. Indeed, Cassidy had to conserve energy, which obviously cost speed. However, the New Zealander was lucky that Frijns did not attack him, as the Dutchman was under fire from Rowland. This allowed Cassidy to celebrate his first win for his new employer Jaguar, leaving Frijns just behind.

De Vries and Dennis had difficult day

Nyck de Vries had qualified ahead of his teammate Edoardo Mortara earlier in the day, but crossed the finish line behind the Swiss driver. Points did not come out of it all: 12th and 14th respectively was the final result for the Mahindra drivers. The winner of Friday's ePrix, reigning champion Jake Dennis, also barely made an appearance. The Briton complained after qualifying about "the worst FE car he had ever driven" and after the race he was penalised. As a result, he failed to score a point.

The results second ePrix Diriyah