Formula E New York City E-Prix II
Evans 'let Jaguar down' with "railway line" New York crash
Mitch Evans “almost didn’t need a steering wheel” due to low grip in the New York City E-Prix prior to his “unacceptable railway line” crash that cost Jaguar a 1-2.
Matt Kew
Edited: Jul 13, 2021, 8:56 AM
Copy link
Share on Viber
The Kiwi missed out on pole to teammate Sam Bird and then played rear-gunner to the Briton until two laps to go when he tagged the wall and critically damaged his suspension.
While Evans was able to continue with the broken left-rear corner and initially only fell to sixth, a complete component failure on the final lap relegated him from runner-up to 13th.
The Jaguar Racing driver reckoned he had the pace and energy to match his stablemate early on.
“I feel like I had the edge on Sam today and he just did a better job when it counted," Evans told Motorsport.com. "It's as simple as that.
“I was up on energy compared to Sam. I felt a bit quicker just generally and then I just started hitting a cliff on the rear tyre.”
Evans began to fall into the clutches of chasing Envision Virgin Racing rookie Nick Cassidy, who would pass when Evans damaged his car, as the balance aboard his I-Type 5 went awry.
This left Evans feeling that he “didn’t need a steering wheel” because he could just back the rear end of the car into the corner due to the fading rear tyres.
Evans continued: “I almost didn’t need a steering wheel because the thing was rotating so much.
“I was trying with all the tools I've got to calm the rear. But it was too far past the point.”
Read Also:
- New York E-Prix: Bird dominates Sunday race to take points lead
- Bird compares teammate Evans to England soccer hero Grealish
Evans then ran wide at Turn 6 on the penultimate lap onto the marbles, which he reckoned had pulled him like “railway line” into the wall on the corner exit to cause the damage.
A dejected Evans took full responsibility for what he termed to be an “unacceptable” mistake.
"I feel like I really let the team down," he said. “A 1-2 is special for any team and to let everyone down like that with a few laps to go is a really awful feeling.
“I've got nowhere to hide with that one. I have to swallow it. When you're solely responsible for it, it's really shit.”
Evans reckoned the car then begun to “fall over” in the right-handed corners, despite his surprised to continue after what he thought was initially a “terminal” impact.
He added: “The damage had been done. I just was trying to salvage something for the team. To let go of a 1-2... I've been waiting for a race like this for so long.
“I had track position and to not capitalise on that when all the other races I've done from the back have been clinical and almost perfect races…
“When you get the opportunity to start like that and you make an error, it's unacceptable in my eyes.”
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Bird compares teammate Evans to England soccer hero Grealish
Next article Mercedes now the "hunters" in Formula E after point-less NYC races
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Matt Kew
Marko suggests Perez's improved F1 form because 2025 contract at stake
Formula 1
Formula 1
Japanese GP
Apr 6, 2024
Marko suggests Perez's improved F1 form because 2025 contract at stake
Russell explains how low-fuel runs expose Mercedes F1 inconsistency
Formula 1
Formula 1
Japanese GP
Apr 6, 2024
Russell explains how low-fuel runs expose Mercedes F1 inconsistency
Leclerc: No answer for "once in a season" Japan F1 qualifying struggle
Formula 1
Formula 1
Japanese GP
Apr 6, 2024
Leclerc: No answer for "once in a season" Japan F1 qualifying struggle
More from
Mitch Evans
Mitch Evans to lead Opel’s new Formula E team in Gen4 era
Formula E
Formula E 2 mo
Mitch Evans to lead Opel’s new Formula E team in Gen4 era
What brought an end to Mitch Evans’ 10-year relationship with Jaguar in Formula E?
Formula E
Formula E
Berlin ePrix I
6 mo
What brought an end to Mitch Evans’ 10-year relationship with Jaguar in Formula E?
More from
Jaguar Racing
Antonio Felix da Costa defends Jaguar, says Pascal Wehrlein took Jake Dennis out “on purpose”
Formula E
Formula E
London ePrix II
2 mo
Antonio Felix da Costa defends Jaguar, says Pascal Wehrlein took Jake Dennis out “on purpose”
Pascal Wehrlein: Jaguar wanted to "destroy my race” in controversial London finale
Formula E
Formula E
London ePrix II
2 mo
Pascal Wehrlein: Jaguar wanted to "destroy my race” in controversial London finale
Latest news
Carson Hocevar and Cleetus McFarland win LeMullets 2026 in epic finish
General
Misc General 2 h
Carson Hocevar and Cleetus McFarland win LeMullets 2026 in epic finish
TV ratings released for NASCAR Cup season finale
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Homestead-Miami
9 h
TV ratings released for NASCAR Cup season finale
Chase Elliott's car chief leaves Hendrick for NASCAR Truck crew chief role
NASCAR Truck
NSTR NASCAR Truck
Homestead
10 h
Chase Elliott's car chief leaves Hendrick for NASCAR Truck crew chief role
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe