Mitch Evans

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Mitch Evans
MexicoCityePrix 2020 Evans.jpg
NationalityNew Zealand New Zealander
BornMitchell William Evans
(1994-06-24) 24 June 1994 (age 27)
Auckland, New Zealand
Related toSimon Evans (brother)
Formula E career
Debut season2016–17
Current teamPanasonic Jaguar Racing
Car number20
Starts63
Wins2
Podiums11
Poles2
Fastest laps7
Best finish4th in 2020–21
Finished last season4th
Previous series
201316
201112
201012
2009
2009
2008–09
2008
2008
2007–08
2007
GP2 Series
GP3 Series
Toyota Racing Series
Australian Drivers' Champ.
Formula Ford Australia
Formula Ford Fiesta Series
Formula Ford New Zealand
FFord Manfeild Winter Series
Formula First New Zealand
FFirst Manfeild Winter Series
Championship titles
2012
2010, 2011
2010, 2011
2011
GP3 Series
Toyota Racing Series
TRS International Trophy
New Zealand Grand Prix
Awards
2011[1]

Mitchell William Evans (born 24 June 1994) is a New Zealand professional racing driver. He currently drives for the Jaguar Racing team in Formula E. In 2012, he won the GP3 Series and he raced in the GP2 Series for four years, achieving 14th place in 2013, fourth in 2014, fifth in 2015, and 12th in 2016.

He previously won the 2010 and 2011 Toyota Racing Series in New Zealand and was runner up in the 2010 Australian Drivers' Championship despite missing three races. When he won the New Zealand Grand Prix in February 2011, it is believed he became the youngest driver to win an international Grand Prix at 16 years old.[2]

He won his first Formula E race in the 2019 Rome ePrix.

Career[]

Early career[]

Born in Auckland, Evans was a champion karter in both restricted 100cc karts, and also won the CIK Trophy of New Zealand at JICA level. He moved to Formula First for the 2007 season, competing in three races of the Winter Series at Manfeild Autocourse, and ending the season eighteenth in the championship. He contested the full New Zealand championship in 2007–08, finishing ninth overall and recording a fastest lap.

Formula Ford[]

He returned to Manfield for the 2008 Winter Series, but in Formula Ford, winning seven of 12 races he contested to take the championship. In his national Formula Ford campaign in 2008–09, Evans battled with Tauranga's Richie Stanaway who came out on top by just over 100 points. Evans won six races during the season, including doubles at Taupo and Manfield.

For 2009, Evans moved to the Australian Formula Ford Championship, and competed in the Victorian state championship. Evans was runner-up in the standings, losing out to CAMS Rising Star Luke Ellery in the state championship, and in the national championship to his team-mate at Sonic Motor Racing Services, Nick Percat. During the season, Evans became the youngest round winner in the championship's history, when he won at Sandown Raceway in August.[3] As well as that win, he won five other races including a weekend sweep at Queensland Raceway, and a double win at Surfers Paradise.

Formula Three[]

Evans at the fourth round of the 2010 Australian Drivers' Championship at Mallala.

Evans was drafted in by Australian Formula 3 entrant Team BRM to compete for them at the final round of the season, at Sandown.[4] BRM acquired Evans' services to help with Joey Foster's championship bid. Evans was quickly on the pace, setting the fastest time in the official practice session,[5] and third in qualifying. In the first race, he ended up fourth overall and third in the Gold Star class, edging out Kristian Lindbom by just over a tenth of a second. However, in the second race, Evans led home his team-mate Foster to become the youngest winner of the Formula 3 Superprix, but Foster won the Australian Drivers' Championship.[6]

For the 2010 season, Evans raced in New Zealand's Toyota Racing Series with the Giles Motorsport team. At the first round, Evans took pole position and won the race, a feat that had not been achieved since Brendon Hartley made his debut in the 2005 Toyota Racing Series.[7] He added a second win at Timaru, and won the first contemporary formulae race at the new Hampton Downs Motorsport Park. He claimed the title at Taupo by three points, holding off New Zealander Earl Bamber who won all three races at the circuit.

Evans returned to Australian Formula 3 for the 2010 Australian Drivers' Championship, and won the first three races of the season at Wakefield Park. He skipped the second round at Symmons Plains to test a Formula Abarth car at Misano in Italy.[8] But quickly resumed winning at Phillip Island.

GP3[]

2011[]

Evans was signed to race in the 2011 GP3 Series in Europe by the MW Arden team which is co-owned by Christian Horner (principal of F1's Red Bull Racing), and Red Bull driver Mark Webber (Evans' manager).[9] The series features identical new design Dallara-Renaults, and is considered to be the feeder to GP2 and then F1.

Evans won the feature race at Circuit de Catalunya in Spain, having finishing sixth and seventh in the first two races at the first round which was staged at Istanbul Park in Turkey . He then went into the Valencia Grand Prix in third place in the championship, and emerged leading the championship after a third in the feature and fourth in the sprint. He held a four-point lead over second placed Nigel Melker for the GP3 drivers' championship and MW Arden was leading the constructors championship too.

However, his performance dropped off for the rest of the season, and he only achieved another point scoring round when eighth in the feature race of the final round of the championship in Italy. He eventually finished ninth in the championship with 29 points.

2012[]

Retained by MW Arden for the 2012 GP3 Season,[10] Evans began with a win in the feature race at the opening round of the championship in Spain.[11] He also had wins at Valencia in Spain and on the Hockenheimring in Germany, and a second and two-thirds. He took his fourth pole position of the season at the final venue, Monza in Italy, but did not complete the feature race, requiring him to start from the back of the grid in race two. Evans worked his way through the field to seventh, but a puncture effectively ended his race, and the points for the fastest lap he recorded could not be claimed because he finished outside the top 10. Daniel Abt of Germany finished second in the race and was runner up to Evans in the championship by only two points.

Mark Webber told the media he was very proud of his protege, and he predicted Evans would move to GP2 in 2013. "There are a lot of good drivers in it (GP3),” he said, "yet it was Mitch who had the most poles and the most wins of anyone. He's learning all the time and I look forward to him moving up to another category next year and showing everyone what an exceptional talent he is." [12]

GP2[]

2013[]

Webber's prediction was correct because Evans moved up to GP2 with Arden as teammate to the very experienced Johnny Cecotto Jr. In the first racing weekend of the season, at Sepang in Malaysia where he had never raced before, Evans was suffering from food poisoning and had handling problems in the first race. But he finished third in the second race[13] and at 18 years of age, and still a rookie, he became the youngest GP2 driver to stand on the podium.[14]

2014[]

For the 2014 season Evans moved to the Russian Time team alongside Artem Markelov. He took his maiden victory at Silverstone and then a second at Hockenheim, in what was GP2's 200th race. Four more podium appearances saw him finish fourth in the standings on 174 points, while Markelov placed 24th.

2015[]

Evans remained with Russian Time for the 2015 season. Markelov was again his teammate. They placed 5th and 13th in the championship.

2016[]

For the 2016 season Evans switched to Campos, alongside Sean Gelael. He took his first victory of the season in the Austrian feature race, leading a Campos 1–2 in changing conditions.

Formula E[]

Mitch Evans at the 2017 Berlin ePrix.

On 19 August 2016, it was announced that Evans would be one of four drivers testing with Jaguar at the pre-season test at Donington Park.[15] Evans was later signed with the team.[16]

2016-17

During his first season, he partnered Adam Carroll, scoring 22 points to Carroll's 5. His best result of the season came in Mexico City, where he finished in fourth place, taking Jaguar's first points in Formula E. He set the fastest lap of the race in Berlin race 1, but didn't take the bonus point, because he retired from the race. Evans took further points-scoring finishes in Monaco, Paris & Montreal to finish the championship in 14th position.

2017-18

For the 2017–18 season, he partnered Nelson Piquet Jr, who moved to Jaguar from NextEV. In the second race of the season in Hong Kong, Evans took his & Jaguar's first ever Formula E podium, finishing 3rd in after Daniel Abt's disqualification. In Santiago, Evans finished in 7th, behind teammate Piquet Jr, before coming in 6th in Mexico City. In Punta Del Este, Evans qualified in Superpole, but had his time disallowed for a technical infringement & had to start at the back of the grid. He fought his way superbly through the field to take 4th position. For much of the Rome ePrix, Evans was on target for a podium finish, battling with André Lotterer & Lucas di Grassi, but towards the closing stages, he ran out of usable energy & came home in 9th. Evans had a difficult race in Paris, finishing down in 15th position, but he bounced back in Berlin to finish 6th. Evans achieved a huge career milestone in Round 10 of the championship in Zurich, by taking his first ever Formula E pole position. However, he struggled in the race, losing the lead & then being hit by a drive-through penalty for overspeed under full course yellow conditions. He ultimately finished down in 7th. He retired from the first race in New York, but finished in 6th in race 2, to cement 7th in the championship, ahead of teammate Piquet Jr, 4 points ahead of Lotterer.

2018-19

Mitch Evans at the 2019 Marrakesh ePrix.

Evans was partnered by Nelson Piquet Jr for the second successive year. Evans' season got off to a promising start in Ad Diriyah, finishing in 4th position, whilst teammate Piquet Jr, scored his solitary point of the season in 10th. Evans scored points in all of the first 7 races, the only driver to do so. He finished 9th in Marrakesh & benefitted from a penalty given to Alexander Sims in Santiago, to finish 6th. This was followed by 7th in both Mexico City & Hong Kong. For the Rome ePrix, Evans got his Jaguar I-Type III, through to the Superpole shootout & qualified 2nd to Techeetah's André Lotterer. Lotterer held the lead at the start of the race, but a decisive move from Evans at the chicane, gave him the race lead. There was further drama, though. When Evans tried to take the Attack Mode for the second time, he didn't drive through all of the sensors & had to try & activate it the next lap. He also had to slow down during the closing stages, due to the pace during the rest of the race being faster than the Jaguar team had expected. Evans held on to the win, finishing ahead of Lotterer & Stoffel Vandoorne. Rome was also his first race with new teammate Alex Lynn. His first non-points result came in the wet Paris ePrix, where he finished down in 16th. He bounced back in Monaco, to finish 7th, which became 6th after the disqualification of Antonio Felix Da Costa. After a lacklustre Berlin weekend, Evans fought hard with Jean-Eric Vergne in the first ever Bern ePrix. Evans started on the front row & then attacked Vergne for the entire race, but due to the tight circuit & Vergne's defensive driving, Evans had to settle for second. For the first of the two New York City races, Evans qualified in 13th, knowing that his best chance to keep his title hopes alive would be to push through the field. He did just so, finishing less than a second behind race winner Sébastien Buemi in second place. This was enough to keep his title chances alive, with Vergne not scoring in the race. In the weekend's second qualifying session, Evans placed 8th & was set for points until a penultimate lap collision with Lucas di Grassi ended all hopes, although since Robin Frijns won the race he wouldn't have taken it anyway. He finished the season 5th overall with 105 points, helping Panasonic Jaguar take 7th in the constructor's standings.

2019-20

Evans had a new teammate in James Calado for season 6 of Formula E. In the first race of the two Diriyah ePrix, Evans finished in 10th place and also scored the point for setting the fastest lap of the race of the runners in the top 10. In the second race of the weekend, he collided with Sam Bird, a clash which ended both their races. In the third round of the season, the 2020 Santiago ePrix, Evans set pole position & was set for a dominant victory, but a temperature issue meant he was passed by António Félix da Costa & Maximilian Günther finishing 4th on the road behind Nyck De Vries, but was promoted to 3rd after the Dutchman received a penalty. At the next race in Mexico City, he qualified second on the grid behind André Lotterer, but took the lead at the very start of the race & won the race with one of the biggest winning margins in the history of Formula E. A timing issue in Marrakesh meant that Evans was unable to set a qualifying time & started towards the back of the grid, but he put in a phenomenal recovery drive to finish 6th in the race.

Personal life[]

Evans attended Saint Kentigern College in Pakuranga, Auckland, but left at the end of 2010 to pursue his career overseas.[17] Evans' career has been backed financially by entrepreneur Colin Giltrap, who helped establish careers for fellow New Zealand racing drivers Scott Dixon, Chris van der Drift and Brendon Hartley.

Racing record[]

Career summary[]

Season Series Team Races Wins Poles F/Laps Podiums Points Position
2007 Formula First Manfeild Winter Series 3 0 0 0 0 105 18th
2007–08 NZ Formula First Championship Sabre 18 0 0 1 0 707 9th
2008 Formula Ford Manfeild Winter Series Sabre 12 7 2 9 10 813 1st
2008–09 New Zealand Formula Ford Championship 21 6 3 5 13 1111 2nd
2009 Australian Drivers' Championship – Gold Star Team BRM 2 1 0 0 2 32 5th
Australian Formula Ford Championship Sonic Motor Racing Services 23 6 3 6 15 297 2nd
VSCRC Formula Ford Fiesta Series 2 1 ? ? 1 176 2nd
2010 Australian Drivers' Championship Team BRM 17 8 4 4 16 219 2nd
Toyota Racing Series Giles Motorsport 15 3 8 5 10 915 1st
2011 GP3 Series MW Arden 16 1 2 0 2 29 9th
Toyota Racing Series Giles Motorsport 15 7 6 5 14 973 1st
British Formula 3 Championship Double R Racing 3 0 0 0 0 10 20th
2012 GP3 Series MW Arden 16 3 4 3 6 151.5 1st
Toyota Racing Series Giles Motorsport 6 2 4 2 4 284 19th
2013 GP2 Series Arden International 22 0 0 0 4 56 14th
Toyota Racing Series Giles Motorsport 3 2 2 1 2 204 18th
2014 GP2 Series RT Russian Time 22 2 0 1 6 174 4th
2014–15 V8SuperTourers Championship Team 4 3 0 0 1 2 245 28th
2015 GP2 Series Russian Time 22 2 0 2 7 135 5th
24 Hours of Le Mans - LMP2 Jota Sport 1 0 0 0 1 N/A 2nd
2016 GP2 Series Pertamina Campos Racing 22 1 0 2 1 90 12th
European Le Mans Series SMP Racing 1 0 0 0 0 10 24th
2016–17 Formula E Panasonic Jaguar Racing 12 0 0 1 0 22 14th
2017–18 Formula E Panasonic Jaguar Racing 12 0 1 1 1 68 7th
2018–19 Formula E Panasonic Jaguar Racing 13 1 0 0 3 105 5th
2019–20 Formula E Panasonic Jaguar Racing 11 1 1 1 2 71 7th
2020–21 Formula E Jaguar Racing 15 0 0 3 5 90 4th

Complete GP3 Series results[]

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 D.C. Points
2011 MW Arden IST
FEA

6
IST
SPR

7
CAT
FEA

1
CAT
SPR

5
VAL
FEA

3
VAL
SPR

4
SIL
FEA

9
SIL
SPR

Ret
NÜR
FEA

19
NÜR
SPR

22
HUN
FEA

Ret
HUN
SPR

24†
SPA
FEA

11
SPA
SPR

Ret
MNZ
FEA

8
MNZ
SPR

Ret
9th 29
2012 MW Arden CAT
FEA

1
CAT
SPR

20
MON
FEA

5
MON
SPR

4
VAL
FEA

1
VAL
SPR

6
SIL
FEA

2
SIL
SPR

11
HOC
FEA

8
HOC
SPR

1
HUN
FEA

3
HUN
SPR

21
SPA
FEA

3
SPA
SPR

15
MNZ
FEA

Ret
MNZ
SPR

20
1st 151.5

Driver did not finish the race, but was classified as he completed over 90% of the race distance.

Complete GP2 Series results[]

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 DC Points
2013 Arden International SEP
FEA

10
SEP
SPR

3
BHR
FEA

Ret
BHR
SPR

15
CAT
FEA

12
CAT
SPR

13
MON
FEA

3
MON
SPR

3
SIL
FEA

19
SIL
SPR

14
NÜR
FEA

16
NÜR
SPR

7
HUN
FEA

7
HUN
SPR

2
SPA
FEA

11
SPA
SPR

10
MNZ
FEA

Ret
MNZ
SPR

15
MRN
FEA

11
MRN
SPR

15
YMC
FEA

Ret
YMC
SPR

14
14th 56
2014 RT Russian Time BHR
FEA

14
BHR
SPR

7
CAT
FEA

14
CAT
SPR

20†
MON
FEA

2
MON
SPR

6
RBR
FEA

7
RBR
SPR

4
SIL
FEA

1
SIL
SPR

7
HOC
FEA

1
HOC
SPR

11
HUN
FEA

12
HUN
SPR

9
SPA
FEA

5
SPA
SPR

4
MNZ
FEA

3
MNZ
SPR

20†
SOC
FEA

2
SOC
SPR

4
YMC
FEA

3
YMC
SPR

5
4th 174
2015 Russian Time BHR
FEA

6
BHR
SPR

17
CAT
FEA

2
CAT
SPR

DNS
MON
FEA

Ret
MON
SPR

DNS
RBR
FEA

10
RBR
SPR

5
SIL
FEA

Ret
SIL
SPR

20
HUN
FEA

17
HUN
SPR

22
SPA
FEA

5
SPA
SPR

3
MNZ
FEA

3
MNZ
SPR

1
SOC
FEA

11
SOC
SPR

8
BHR
FEA

3
BHR
SPR

1
YMC
FEA

3
YMC
SPR

C
5th 135
2016 Pertamina Campos Racing CAT
FEA

12
CAT
SPR

14
MON
FEA

5
MON
SPR

4
BAK
FEA

5
BAK
SPR

Ret
RBR
FEA

1
RBR
SPR

8
SIL
FEA

4
SIL
SPR

13
HUN
FEA

10
HUN
SPR

5
HOC
FEA

Ret
HOC
SPR

10
SPA
FEA

16
SPA
SPR

13
MNZ
FEA

8
MNZ
SPR

Ret
SEP
FEA

8
SEP
SPR

6
YMC
FEA

15
YMC
SPR

8
12th 90

Driver did not finish the race, but was classified as he completed over 90% of the race distance.

24 Hours of Le Mans results[]

Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps Pos. Class
Pos.
2015 United Kingdom Jota Sport United Kingdom Simon Dolan
United Kingdom Oliver Turvey
Gibson 015S-Nissan LMP2 358 10th 2nd

Complete European Le Mans Series results[]

Year Entrant Class Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 Rank Points
2016 SMP Racing LMP2 BR Engineering BR01 Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8 SIL
5
IMO RBR LEC SPA EST 24th 10

Complete Formula E results[]

Year Team Chassis Powertrain 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Pos Points
2016–17 Panasonic Jaguar Racing Spark SRT01-e Jaguar I-Type 1 HKG
Ret
MRK
17
BUE
13
MEX
4
MCO
10
PAR
9
BER
Ret
BER
17
NYC
NC
NYC
Ret
MTL
7
MTL
12
14th 22
2017–18 Panasonic Jaguar Racing Spark SRT01-e Jaguar I-Type 2 HKG
12
HKG
3
MRK
11
SCL
7
MEX
6
PDE
4
RME
9
PAR
15
BER
6
ZUR
7
NYC
Ret
NYC
6
7th 68
2018–19 Panasonic Jaguar Racing Spark SRT05e Jaguar I-Type 3 ADR
4
MRK
9
SCL
6
MEX
7
HKG
7
SYX
9
RME
1
PAR
16
MCO
6
BER
12
BRN
2
NYC
2
NYC
17
5th 105
2019–20 Panasonic Jaguar Racing Spark SRT05e Jaguar I-Type 4 DIR
10
DIR
18
SCL
3
MEX
1
MRK
6
BER
13
BER
12
BER
9
BER
7
BER
7
BER
11
7th 71
2020–21 Jaguar Racing Spark SRT05e Jaguar I-Type 5 DIR
3
DIR
Ret
RME
3
RME
6
VLC
Ret
VLC
15
MCO
3
PUE
8
PUE
9
NYC
Ret
NYC
13
LDN
14
LDN
3
BER
3
BER
Ret
4th 90

References[]

  1. ^ "MotorSport New Zealand - The Jim Clark Trophy". motorsport.org.nz. 31 August 2010. Archived from the original on 31 August 2010.
  2. ^ "Evans becomes youngest Grand Prix winner". Toyota Racing Series. Retrieved 14 February 2011.
  3. ^ "2009 Formula Ford finale a cracker". autosports.com.au. Auto Sports. 25 October 2009. Retrieved 26 January 2010. A season where we saw lap records tumble at every round, the introduction of our EWP 'Hard-Charger' and IMA 'Pole Position' Awards, and our youngest ever competitor and round winner in the form of Mitch Evans – here's hoping 2010 provides us with just as many exciting moments.[dead link]
  4. ^ "Mitch Evans set to add spice to title decider". Formula3.com.au. Australian Formula 3. 6 November 2009. Retrieved 26 January 2010.
  5. ^ "SuperPrix action gets underway with impressive rookie Mitch Evans on top". Formula3.com.au. Australian Formula 3. 27 November 2009. Retrieved 26 January 2010.
  6. ^ "Joey Foster and Mitch Evans create a weekend for the record books". Formula3.com.au. Australian Formula 3. 29 November 2009. Retrieved 26 January 2010.
  7. ^ Egan, Brendon (18 January 2010). "Teen driver Evans wins debut race". stuff.co.nz. Fairfax New Zealand Limited. Retrieved 26 January 2010.
  8. ^ "Mitch Evans gets surprise Italian test". speedcafe.com.au. Speedcafe. 6 April 2010. Archived from the original on 11 April 2010. Retrieved 11 April 2010.
  9. ^ "New team collaboration between Arden boss Christian Horner and Red Bull Racing Formula 1 driver Mark Webber". Inside GP3. Archived from the original on 23 February 2011. Retrieved 29 November 2011.
  10. ^ "Evans retains MW Arden seat for '12". Autosport.com. Retrieved 16 January 2012.
  11. ^ "Evans storms to victory in Barcelona". GP3 The Insider. Archived from the original on 15 May 2012. Retrieved 12 May 2012.
  12. ^ "Motorsport: Webber expects Evans to step up". Otago Daily Times. Retrieved 17 September 2012.
  13. ^ "BRILLIANT GP2 OPENER FOR MITCH EVANS IN FACE OF ADVERSITY". speedcafe.com. Retrieved 24 March 2013.
  14. ^ "COLETTI WINS AS MITCH EVANS SCALES TO BRILLIANT GP2 PODIUM". speedcafe.co.nz. Archived from the original on 26 March 2013. Retrieved 24 March 2013.
  15. ^ Mitchell, Scott (19 August 2016). "Jaguar Formula E team to evaluate four drivers in Donington test". Autosport. Retrieved 19 August 2016.
  16. ^ "Evans to partner Carroll at Jaguar". 2 August 2016. Retrieved 3 August 2016.
  17. ^ "Evans, Bamber in Toyota Racing Series battle". Stuff.co.nz. Fairfax New Zealand Limited. 17 March 2010. Archived from the original on 23 February 2013. Retrieved 21 March 2010. Evans, a St Kentigern's College schoolboy who has never been to Europe, said he had endured an "up and down season" but said he has learnt what it will take to win the title.

External links[]

Sporting positions
Preceded by
Mitch Cunningham
Toyota Racing Series
Champion

20102011
Succeeded by
Nick Cassidy
Preceded by
Earl Bamber
New Zealand Grand Prix
Winner

2011
Succeeded by
Nick Cassidy
Preceded by
Valtteri Bottas
GP3 Series
Champion

2012
Succeeded by
Daniil Kvyat
Retrieved from ""