Why Cassidy will be no ordinary rookie in Formula E

By:

Jamie Klein

Jul 16, 2020, 5:30 AM

When Nick Cassidy starts his first Formula E race next January in Santiago, there will be plenty of people watching – the vast majority, most likely – who have seen little of the talented Kiwi in action for the last three years.

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And that pretty much sums up why the reigning Super Formula champion decided to take the plunge with Envision Virgin Racing, and in doing so give up his status as the number one foreign driver on the Japanese scene.

Last year, when Cassidy wrapped up the Super Formula title at Suzuka to complete the ‘triple crown’ of Japanese motorsport (following his 2015 All-Japan Formula 3 and 2017 SUPER GT successes), there was perhaps a feeling that he had pretty much achieved everything there was to achieve in the country, and not long after his 25th birthday.

Jamie Klein

Jamie Klein is one of Motorsport.com’s Global News Editors, reporting primarily on the FIA World Endurance Championship, Super Formula and SUPER GT. He took his first steps into motorsport journalism in 2013 as a freelancer before joining Motorsport Network full-time in 2015 as UK Editor. In 2016, he moved into a more wide-ranging role as he became a regular in the paddocks of the WEC and MotoGP. After a two-month trip to Japan in late 2018 gave him his first taste of reporting live on Super Formula and SUPER GT, he made the move to Tokyo permanently in 2019, and has been a regular presence in both paddocks since 2020. Away from motorsport, he is studying the Japanese language and can often be found relaxing in an ‘onsen’ (hot spring) or gorging on ramen, occasionally at the same time. He can be found on Twitter at @JamieKlein_.