How Bird's crash recovery became Formula E's fairytale of New York

By:

Matt Kew

Jul 12, 2021, 2:36 PM

After crashing in practice during the opening session at the New York City E-Prix, Sam Bird immediately had a recovery job on his hands. But the Jaguar driver rose through the order and secured victory in the second race - and with it, the championship lead. Here's how an Englishman in New York became top of the heap

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While Euro 2020 fever gripped this nation over the past four weeks as England progressed to the tournament final, countless words have been written or recorded on the vital role teamwork plays in cultivating success. And after that loss on penalties to Italy, the same again will be produced on the strength that can arise in reacting to the pain of defeat.

Jaguar Racing experienced that rollercoaster, albeit on a somewhat smaller scale, in just two days across the New York City E-Prix double-header last weekend. Its key 2021 driver signing Sam Bird and the tireless mechanics transformed crashing into the barriers into brilliance to snare a commanding Brooklyn victory to move into the lead of the Formula E championship.

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Matt Kew

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Matt Kew is Autosport’s F1 Editor, a role he has held since March 2022 following stints covering Formula E, Extreme E and the British Touring Car Championship.

Matt joined Autosport in 2018 to work predominantly on the magazine, but his relentless quoting of Alan Partridge meant office colleagues soon thought he would be better-suited to increased field work.

Needless to say, Matt had the last laugh when he won the Motorsport UK Young Journalist of the Year Award in 2019.

His interest in motorsport was sparked by regular trips to watch ASCAR crash around Rockingham’s banked oval.

Matt read politics and philosophy at the University of Sheffield - receiving first-class honours for his dissertation assessing the lack of female participation in top-tier motor racing.

He covered a wide variety of national race and rally meetings for Autosport as a freelancer before joining full-time. His best efforts to argue the merits of historic racing are undone by a questionable taste in music and James Bond actors.

How Bird's crash recovery became Formula E's fairytale of New York

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