Mitch Evans and Nick Cassidy topped all three days of an interrupted Formula E test in Valencia to underline their status as the team to beat ahead of the 2024 season.
In what is arguably Formula E‘s strongest ever line-up, Evans set the fastest time of the week on the opening day of the test and Cassidy was quickest on the last day.
The pair have been childhood friends and ran Jake Dennis close to the title last season, only for their championship hopes to fade away when they collided in Rome.
Evans, who has been racing in Formula E since Season 3, admits he needed the time off following a dramatic end to the last campaign.
“The back end of the season is always quite hectic, it was intense end to the season,” Evans exclusively told Total-Motorsport.com. “It was cool to chill out for a bit.
“We went straight into testing for Gen3, so we didn’t really get a break. It was quite intense. This summer was kind of almost the opposite – had a few months off, which was good to just digest season.
“It didn’t really end the way we wanted, so took a little bit of time off and I actually started to miss doing interviews and stuff!
“Then, went back into work at the end of September and from there I’ve had things most weeks. So that’s been it’s been good.”
Evans conducted a shakedown at the start of October and was quick out of the blogs at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo in testing – a trait which has rarely been seen from Jaguar during their time in Formula E.
Due to homologation rules, the hardware of the current cars are the same as last season, so software and system improvements are the main areas to find performance.
Asked what the team have worked on in the break to make progress, Evans said: “I can’t be too specific but it’s always a lot of little improvements that we make.
“Also, on the vehicle dynamics side, we have been tying to improve mechanical setup. Obviously, the software race is always was a big one. It’s open between both years.
“I think we will try to keep making the car as fast as possible just like every other team. So there are a few things we are trying to make to make the car better.
“We finished off the season in a really strong position, so we are expecting other teams to catch up. I think that’s natural. But we are hoping to make a jump to keep ahead of the rest.”
