by Having taken pole position at the Cape Town E-Prix after beating Maximilian Guenther in qualifying, Fenestraz eventually lost out to the top two, Antonio Felix da Costa and Jean-Eric Vergne during the 32 lap race. .
The Franco-Argentine managed to move long-time leader Cassidy up to third, which he looked to hold onto until the final lap when Fenestraz – who could not be seen on television – hit the wall and he fell down the order.
Cassidy claimed the final step on the podium as a result, with Fenestraz ranked last.
Explaining the incident, Fenestraz felt that Cassidy touched the rear of his Nissan with his front wing, ending any aspirations of a maiden Formula E podium.
“We were racing for third place in the race and it looked like he was racing for the championship,” Fenestraz told Autosport.
“It’s a shame – I mean, some people thought I ended up in the wall by myself, but I didn’t.
“He wasn’t even laughing at Turn 7, he had a little piece of the front wing behind my back wheel, but it wasn’t close to side to side.
“He touched me and then I immediately lost the goal and hit the Tecpro barrier. So it wasn’t a big impact, but big enough to break my rear wishbone.
“It’s a shame because you know, we were able to stand up well. A move like that from Cass… yeah, it’s a shame.”
Sacha Fenestraz, Nissan Formula E Team
Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images
Cassidy disagreed with Fenestraz’s view, and suggested that the French-born driver’s braking caused the incident after leaving the door open.
New Zealand claimed that Fenestraz’s defense was a result of him struggling for energy, which Cassidy expected to press.
“He was just basically short on energy, so he had to defend pretty hard. But he really left the door open at Turn 7, which is a great passing spot.
“And then when he saw me going for him, he’s covered, which is something we’ve talked about a lot – moving on breaks and double moves – in the past.
“That’s done and come across my front wing. I’m not really a fan of that moving under braking. It’s talking about, as I said, a lot.
“But at the same time, I feel sorry for him because the rest of the race he drove great and obviously he did a great lap in qualifying. He’s proven he’s a great driver.”
Fenestraz was involved in an earlier contretemps with Maximilian Guenther during the full yellow course early on, when the Maserati MSG driver got ahead of him as the yellows were displayed and did not concede the place.
After Guenther retired when he was penalized for hitting the wall, a three-place grid penalty was handed down for the next São Paulo round.
