Mitch Evans hauled his Jaguar from 16th on the grid to fourth place in Saturday’s Tokyo night race, a recovery drive that returned the New Zealander to the summit of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship on 144 points and left his Coventry-based team leading both title tables.

Round 14 was won by Dan Ticktum with a last-lap lunge on Jake Dennis, but the night belonged to Jaguar TCS Racing on points. António Félix da Costa’s damage-limitation ninth place made it a double score, extending the British squad’s Teams’ Championship advantage over Porsche to 20 points. Da Costa sits fifth in the drivers’ table on 113.

Evans’ afternoon looked ordinary after a scruffy qualifying. It was anything but. He picked his way forward in the opening exchanges, took PIT BOOST at exactly the right moment and then sat on a healthier energy number than the cars ahead of him for lap after lap.

A six-minute ATTACK MODE deployment late on gave him the punch he needed. On the final tour he cleared Taylor Barnard’s DS Penske for fourth, the sort of margin that decides championships in a season this tight.

“After qualifying I knew it would be a tough race today, but we really put our heads together as a team and delivered a fantastic race strategy,” Evans said. “It was hard to execute but it was a really flawless race. We know where we didn’t maximise qualifying today so hopefully we can start closer to the front of the grid tomorrow.”

Da Costa’s night unravels

Da Costa had the more promising start, lining up third and running with the leaders on excellent efficiency before contact on the opening lap and then a shove into the wall dropped him out of the points. Sitting on his PIT BOOST longer than most of the field, he climbed back with a late ATTACK MODE to salvage ninth.

“Today we had really strong pace, our race car was efficient, and the team were delivering a fantastic strategy,” the Portuguese said. “I was really happy with the position we were in, and I thought we could fight for the win. But unfortunately, the pack slowed down which opened the door for Wehrlein to come through and I ended up in the wall. This compromised our race today, but we’ll come back fighting tomorrow.”

Team principal Ian James, whose squad became Formula E’s most successful outfit back in February, called it a race that showcased the series at its best.

“When the flag dropped after 36 laps of action, Mitch had driven from P16 on the grid after a difficult qualifying to a fighting P4, a result that sees him retake the lead of the Drivers’ Championship,” James said.

“For Antonio, he was on the other end of fortune. He was driving a strategically smart race, never dropping below fourth position, when contact from Pascal Wehrlein forced him into the wall just after the mid-way point of the race. Pascal was penalised, but Antonio’s race was ruined. His recovery to a P9 finish shows just what a competitor he is.

“Now we look to tomorrow, and what will be a very different race with no Pit Boost and two ATTACK MODEs.”

That second Tokyo race, Round 15, ran on Sunday 26 July, leaving three rounds to settle a title fight that has already produced nine different winners. It is a fitting way for Evans to sign off, with the 31-year-old leaving Jaguar at the end of the season after a decade together. The full Round 14 classification is on the official Formula E site, along with the race report from Tokyo.