FE | Portland 2: Da Costa scores a double, Cassidy out of points

Antonio Felix da Costa again. The second race of the US stage in Portland also ends in the name of the Portuguese, protagonist of a perfect weekend in which he scored his fourth victory in the last five events. An impressive run that has brought him back to fourth place in the world rankings with just two events to go in the championship, which will be held in London at the end of July.

After taking victory on Saturday due to a five-second penalty given to race winner Mitch Evans, Sunday’s success was crushing for da Costa, despite the pressure put on in the final laps by Robin Frijns. Furthermore, although complex, this triumph also rekindles Porsche’s hopes in the team classification.

The Porsche driver took the lead of the race at the start of the 21st lap, after a brief safety car to recover some debris left on the track, and managed the situation in the remaining six laps. Realistically, da Costa would also have had something more in his pocket, because the final Safety Car allowed the drivers to push without managing too much energy, but from the pits the team always asked him to keep the group compact to help his teammate Pascal Wehrlein, competing for the world championship.

In an ePrix where there was no shortage of contact, da Costa also passed under the checkered flag with a damaged wing on the right side, after a fortuitous contact with Mortara at turn 10 on lap 15, which also caused the Swiss Mahindra driver to suffer a puncture. However, in Formula E the contribution of the front wing is not so essential and the Portuguese was able to continue without major problems.

Da Costa held off late attacks from Robin Frijns in the Envision, who had also activated Attack Mode towards the end. Mitch Evans completed the podium, moving to just 12 points behind Jaguar teammate Nick Cassidy. This weekend was a golden opportunity for Evans to close the gap on the championship leader and, although he didn’t take advantage of it in the first round on Saturday, he hit the mark on Sunday, taking home 15 vital points.

The other Porsche, driven by Pascal Wehrlein, another title contender, finished fourth without the front wing, moving him level on points with Evans, 12 points behind Cassidy, leaving the race open for the final round in London. The Porsche driver’s front wing had become lodged under his car following contact, which had caused some concern as it could lead to an accident or prompt the FIA ​​to return him to the pits. However, the wing then flew off, unfortunately landing in the path of Sam Bird, with the McLaren driver then ending up on the grass along the back straight.

Nick Cassidy, Jaguar TCS Racing, Jaguar I-TYPE 6

Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Motorsport Images

But without the front wing, permanently detached from the car, Wehrlein continued the race and scored vital points in his hunt for a first Formula E title. Cassidy, as well as Jake Dennis and Caio Collett, who replaced Oliver Rowland in this round in Nissan, they were involved in an accident on lap thirteen, suffering damage that forced them to return to the pits.

With debris strewn across the circuit, the safety car intervened on lap 18, offering a lifeline to Cassidy and Dennis, who managed to catch up with the group. Despite having much more energy than those in front of him, thanks to initially laps away from the pack, the increase in race pace after the safety car meant that Cassidy was never able to exploit his advantage, closing outside the zone points. This means that the Jaguar driver, after the mistake on Saturday and the dry race on Sunday, leaves the Portland double-header without points and with a significantly reduced margin, with only two races in London remaining this season.

Also worthy of note is the fine fifth place of Jean-Eric Vergne with the DS, ahead of an excellent sixth place by Nico Mueller with ABT Cupra, fundamental for the German team in the team standings: overall, the Swiss driver had a great weekend. Closing the top ten was the first Andretti, driven by Norman Nato, followed by Max Gunther with the Maserati, Sebastien Buemi and the other car of the American team driven by the reigning champion Jake Dennis, able to get back into the points zone by taking advantage of the Safety Car at the end.