The preseason of Formula E, the new world championship designated by the International Automobile Federation (Federation Internationale de l’Automobile, FIA) left good feelings among the novice drivers who will compete in the series. In Green Racing News we present you those who will debut this season.
Jake Dennis
He will be Maximilian Günther’s teammate on the BMW Andretti team in the 2020-21 Formula E season, he came to the German team to replace Alexander Sims, who was signed by the Mahindra team in September.
Dennis will be a debutant in the category in 2021, he has tested with the team in the past and has pleasantly impressed the entire team. He raced in the DTM during 2019 under the Aston Martin brand, but upon the announcement of his retirement from the German touring car championship, Jake was left without a seat.
Later he participated in the 12 hours of Bathurst and in the European Le Mans Series in the JOTA team with Anthony Davidson and the Mexican pilot Roberto González.
“I’m really looking forward to the new challenge that awaits me in Formula E, and would like to thank all those in charge at BMW i Andretti Motorsport for their trust,” said Dennis.
Jake Dennis
“I’m aware that I will be confronted with unique requirements in Formula E, which I will need to get used to first, but versatility has always been one of my strengths, and I am confident that, with the help of the team and my fellow driver Maximilian Günther, I will quickly get my bearings”
Nick Cassidy
Cassidy is another rookie in ABB FIA Formula E seventh season after being chosen by Envision Virgin Racing as the replacement for Sam Bird.
From the very birth of Formula E, Bird has been alongside Virgin Racing, but the partnership came to an end at the conclusion of the 2019-20 season, as the Briton now moved to Panasonic Jaguar Racing.
When looking for a replacement for one of the most winning drivers in the history of the series, Virgin settled on Cassidy, a rookie who has already shown his potential in March this year in the tests for rookies in Marrakech, where it was dispatched with the best time and with a good performance in the Valencia preseason.
Born in Auckland, New Zealand, 26 years ago, Cassidy competed in karting in his country before reaching cars in 2008 competing in different categories as he won the Toyota Racing Series of New Zealand in 2012 and 2013 taking the place of his compatriot Mitch Evans, Jaguar driver in Formula E, who was also a two-time champion of the category in the years before Cassidy.
After some inconsistent appearances in Formula Renault and Formula 3 in Europe, Cassidy settled in Japan and in 2015 was Japanese Formula 3 champion with seven victories, seven pole positions and 13 podiums in 17 races run.
Two years later, the New Zealander returned to dominate the tracks in Japan, this time in vehicles with a roof in the SUPER GT and in 2019 he established himself in the Super Formula of the Asian country.
With the announcement of his arrival at Envision Virgin Racing, Cassidy will not only venture into a new series for him, but will also have to leave Japan and move to Europe to be close to the team’s base.
“Racing in Japan has been an amazing experience and I’m fortunate that I’ve been able to achieve so much in a short space of time, but I feel it’s now time for the next challenge in my career and I’m very much looking forward to doing that with Envision Virgin Racing and Formula E,” said Cassidy.
He will be one of the riders to see in season seven, not just because of what he has already shown, but because he joins a team that has always been the protagonist and aspires to win in each E-Prix.
Norman Nato
Norman Nato will be one of the new names to join ABB FIA Formula E next season as a driver for ROKiT Venturi Racing, although he comes with an extensive career in motorsport.
The departure of Felipe Massa from the team led by Susie Wolff just after the 2019-20 season opened a place in a seat that was not expected to be free. And this time, instead of going in search of a high-profile rider like the Brazilian, Venturi looked inside and Norman Nato appeared.
The French driver has been involved with the team since 2018 as a reserve driver, with two Formula E rookie test appearances in Marrakech, and has spent hours carrying out development work on the Venturi simulator for the past two years.
He began his international career in European Formula Renault 2.0 in 2011, where he was fourth in his second season with a victory at Spa-Francorchamps and three other podiums.
From there Cannes-born Nato rose to the World Series Formula V8 3.5 and after an unsuccessful first year with the DAMS team, he continued into 2014 to claim two victories, one of them in Monaco.
The 2015 was a year of growth for the Frenchman in training series when he reached GP2, where after a difficult campaign with Arden he switched to Racing Engineering to live a year as the main man: two victories (Catalunya and Monza), one pole and a total of five podiums to be fifth in a championship where three of the four drivers who passed it are or have been in Formula 1: Pierre Gasly, Antonio Giovinazzi and Sergey Sirotkin.
In 2017 Nato returned to the ranks of Arden in what is now called Formula 2 but consistency was not on his side and, despite obtaining a victory in the challenging street race in Baku and two other podiums, the Frenchman finished ninth in the table.
From there Nato left formula cars and moved on to endurance racing, finishing third in the European Le Mans Series championship in 2018 before reaching the World Endurance Championship in 2019 with the Rebelion team. In that event he was also third along with Bruno Senna and Gustavo Menezes behind the dominant Toyota.
His confirmation as a starting driver at ROKiT Venturi Racing will undoubtedly mark a new great challenge for Nato, but his experience of almost a decade in some of the most important series in the world suggests that the 28-year-old Frenchman can take on a leading role.
2016 GP2 Series Round 10 Sepang, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Saturday 1 October 2016. Norman Nato (FRA, Racing Engineering) Photo: Sam Bloxham/GP2 Series Media Service. ref: Digital Image _SBB5395
