Portland E-Prix Race Review
Clinical Cassidy takes victory in the inaugural Portland E-Prix
Nick Cassidy pulled off the right moves at the right times to take victory in the first-ever Portland E-Prix. Avalanche Andretti’s Jake Dennis finished just behind in 2nd place whilst Porsche's Antonio Felix da Costa rounded out the Podium.
The Most Notable Moments
Jake Dennis, who took the championship lead after being fastest in Qualifying, got off to a great start as he held P1 from the Nissan of Sacha Fenestraz and the McLaren of Rene Rast. Early on it became crystal clear that this was going to be another Formula E race where you didn’t want to lead as everyone was backing off massively into the first corner. The order changed quite a lot after just 4 laps before a Safety Car was called out due to Roberto Merhi’s Mahindra stopping on the circuit. Sacha Fenestraz, who was a potential contender for the race win, had to box to change his front wing which completely ruined his race as the race got back underway with Nick Cassidy in the lead. I’m confident in saying pretty much every driver (except Merhi) was in the top 10 in this race at some point and after the first round of attack mode, Norman Nato led from Antonio Felix da Costa and Maximilian Gunther. Nico Muller had a big incident for Formula E standards on lap 10 as he went crashing into the wall which brought out another Safety Car. The way Muller went straight off the track and into the wall looked very reminiscent of Pierre Gasly’s opening lap crash in the 2021 Italian Grand Prix Sprint.
After nearly 7 laps behind the SC, the racing got back underway as Nato lead Cassidy, Gunther and Edoardo Mortara who’d found his way through the field. Due to how slow everyone was going in turn 1, championship leader (going into the weekend) Pascal Wehrlein picked up damage after misjudging how much everyone would slow down whilst teammate da Costa took the lead on Lap 22 and looked to pick up the pace. 4 added laps were announced due to the Safety Car periods and at this point, everyone had saved up enough energy to go flat out to the finish. Envision’s Cassidy managed to re-overtake Porsche’s da Costa for the race lead before Andretti’s Jake Dennis went around the outside of the Portuguese driver to move up into P2. However, the former Formula E Champion managed to get back past the Brit on the same lap. Meanwhile, Sam Bird was getting frustrated as his orders to not attack his teammate meant he lost a position to Sebastian Buemi. On the final lap, da Costa held Dennis off into turn 1, but he couldn’t keep him behind at turn 11 as the Andretti driver pulled off a move that could be crucial come the end of the season. However, Dennis didn’t quite have enough of a pace advantage to overtake Nick Cassidy who came across the line to win by just under 3 tenths in a race that saw a ridiculous 403 overtakes!
Drivers who Impressed
Nick Cassidy drove another splendid race from P10 on the grid to take his third victory of the season and he looks like he has a great chance at becoming a World Champion come the end of July. Jake Dennis can be happy with a Pole position and his 5th Podium in a row whilst Antonio Felix da Costa drove well to finish on the Podium. Mitch Evans’ drive from 20th to 4th was absolutely remarkable whilst Sebastian Buemi also did an excellent job as he went from 16th to 5th. Lucas di Grassi can be very happy with his first points of the season since the opening round in Mexico whilst Robin Frijns held on to score a point for ABT CUPRA.
Drivers who Struggled
Rene Rast had a horrible race as he went from 4th to 14th and the same can be said for Sacha Fenestraz who saw a front-row start turn into nothing. Sam Bird received a post-race penalty which dropped him all the way down from 7th to 17th which is a shame whilst Jake Hughes and Andre Lotterer massively dropped down the field. Edoardo Mortara also had another tough day as he was forced to retire late on.
Overall Race Results
Nick Cassidy: 50:40.629
Jake Dennis: +0.294
Antonio Felix da Costa: +1.140
Mitch Evans: +1.758
Sebastian Buemi: +2.220
Maximilian Gunther: +2.307
Lucas di Grassi: +2.982
Pascal Wehrlein: +3.684
Norman Nato: +3.961
Robin Frijns: +4.300
Jean-Eric Vergne: +4.718
Stoffel Vandoorne: +4.982
Dan Ticktum: +5.470
Rene Rast: +6.115
Sacha Fenestraz: +6.699
Sergio Sette Camara: +7.167
Sam Bird: +7.638
Jake Hughes: +12.977
Andre Lotterer: +16.051
Edoardo Mortara: DNF
Nico Muller: DNF
Roberto Merhi: DNF
Drivers’ Standings:
Jake Dennis: 154pts
Nick Cassidy: 153pts
Pascal Wehrlein: 138pts
Mitch Evans: 122pts
Jean-Eric Vergne: 97pts
Teams’ Standings:
TAG Heuer Porsche: 231pts
Envision Racing: 225pts
Jaguar TCS Racing: 184pts
Avalanche Andretti: 177pts
DS Penske: 139pts
