Motorsport: Kiwi Formula-E star Mitch Evans finding big success in 2021

Mitch Evans has made his best-ever start to a Formula-E season in 2021. Photo / Photosport

Kiwi racer Mitch Evans is looking to improve and build on his great start to the season when the Formula E series continues in Spain this weekend.

Evans and fellow New Zealander Nick Cassidy are at Valencia's Circuit Ricardo Tormo, the championships' long-time test circuit, for rounds five and six.

Evans has had a flyer of a start having already been on the podium twice in four races; third in Diriyah and again third in Rome.

He now sits second in the race for the title just four points behind his Jaguar Racing teammate Sam Bird, with Robin Frijns in third place five points further back.

"It's been a strong start to the season by the whole team," Evans told the Weekend Herald.

"I got a podium at the first race in Saudi, which is a nice way to start the season, and then getting a podium again in Rome with Sam was another strong outing by the team and our first double podium, which was a cool thing for the team.

"Getting more points in the next race was even better. We've been in group one for the whole season so far and being able to score this many points being in group one every race is a very strong performance.

"Very happy with the start. We are leading the team's championship and I'm just behind Sam in the drivers' points, so a tidy start to the campaign.

"We now just have to keep the momentum going."

This weekend's race is the first time the championship has raced in Spain and more importantly the first time an actual race will be held on a purpose-built race track. For the past six seasons the Formula E series has been held on inner-city streets, so it is a bit of an unknown for all involved.

"We're at Valencia this weekend, which is the polar opposite to Rome as far as the track goes. Where the car needs to be fast is a lot different [to a street circuit] and it's going to be tricky as we've never raced on a dedicated race track before.

"Obviously it's something we wanted to avoid, but with the pandemic a lot of the street races we would normally go to are difficult to attend due to quarantine issues, and some cities are just not hosting any events.

"It's not great, but it's the way it is and we just have to make the most of it," said Evans.

The Formula E car was never designed, or built, to race on a purpose-built race track. This will prove a bit of a headache for the teams as no one has any race data to fall back on.

The series was created to be raced on city streets, not permanent circuits. The cars have been designed to rotate very quickly due to the nature of street circuits and have very soft suspension to deal with all the surface changes.

"Being at a permanent facility is going to be a challenge," Evans said.

"There's still the same amount of points up for grabs so we have to try and come up with a baseline setting that is going to work.

"The track is quite long, unlike the tight, twisty tracks we're used to," he said. "That's going to be tricky to get on top of. I'm sure the team will give me the right gear to get on with the job."

This season is the first time the category is classified as an FIA World Championship. Unique to Formula E, it is the only motor sport in the world that lets fans play an active role in the possible outcome of a race. Fanboost allows people to vote for their favourite driver who can access extra power during the race.