Antonio Felix da Costa claimed victory in the Portland E-Prix, securing his third win in four FIA Formula E races. This triumph was made possible by Nick Cassidy’s late spin from the lead, resulting in a disappointing race for Jaguar TCS Racing. Cassidy, known for his late charges in these chaotic races, slid off the circuit just over one lap before the finish line. Polesitter Mitch Evans, who had already received a five-second penalty for a collision with Jake Hughes’ NEOM McLaren earlier in the race, managed to take the victory on the track but dropped to eighth place due to the penalty. Robin Frijns, whose future with Envision Racing is uncertain, finished an impressive second with Jean-Eric Vergne taking third for DS Penske. Edoardo Mortara secured third place for Mahindra Racing, while Nico Müller achieved a fantastic fifth place for ABT Cupra. Jake Dennis and Sam Bird claimed sixth and seventh place respectively. Stoffel Vandoorne finished ninth in the second Penske car, and Pascal Wehrlein could only secure one point for tenth place. Cassidy, who missed out on a significant opportunity to extend his championship lead, will surely be disappointed by the dramatic turn of events.
The race began with Evans making a strong start, closely followed by Hughes and da Costa, who managed to overtake Frijns. Despite the cars maneuvering through the circuit, with two cars side by side in the early corners, the start of the race was clean and incident-free. On the back straight, Hughes took the lead from Evans, with da Costa and Wehrlein’s Porsches closely trailing in third and fourth place respectively. On the second lap, Frijns fought his way back to third place, while da Costa dropped down five places. Nato quickly overtook his teammate Dennis and moved up to third place by the end of the lap.
At the start of the third lap, Norman Nato took the lead and quickly created a gap between himself and Hughes, with Dennis now in third place. All three drivers activated their first Attack Mode, with Nato maintaining his lead and Hughes holding onto second place, followed by Frijns. On the fourth lap, Cassidy, who was in 12th place at the time, activated his first Attack Mode. Nato, Hughes, and Frijns activated their second Attack Mode on the following lap, allowing da Costa to move up to second place. Hughes, however, slid off the track at Turn 13, dropping down to 18th place behind his teammate Sam Bird. This incident occurred as Hughes was jostling for fourth place with Dennis.
On the seventh lap, Frijns took the lead, with Nato in second and Evans in third. Frijns activated his Attack Mode, temporarily dropping down to fourth place, but quickly regained third place from Nato. Dennis was now ahead of the pack. Hughes’ race was effectively over as he had to pit due to a right-rear puncture caused by the earlier incident with Evans. On the eighth lap, Dennis activated another Attack Mode, dropping down to third place and allowing da Costa to take the lead. Evans fought hard and eventually overtook Dennis, securing third place. Fenestraz, who had a disappointing qualifying session, managed to work his way up to seventh place, while Müller and Lucas di Grassi from ABT showed promising performances in sixth and ninth place respectively.
Evans activated his Attack Mode on the tenth lap, temporarily handing the lead back to Frijns, with da Costa in second and Fenestraz in third. Nato dropped down to tenth place, just behind Cassidy, who quickly moved up one spot. The peloton was in full effect, with da Costa, Müller, and Cassidy frequently trading the lead at the start of the twelfth lap. Wehrlein activated his Attack Mode, almost colliding with his teammate as he rejoined the racing line. British driver Dan Ticktum was making progress and was among the top six, while Bird climbed up to fourth place within a few corners of the thirteenth lap.
Cassidy decided to fall back and let the pack overtake him, allowing his teammate Evans to take the lead. Bird moved up to second place, with Müller in third. Evans then lost the lead to Frijns by the end of the fourteenth lap, with da Costa now in second place. The race was intense, with the lead constantly changing hands. Mortara found himself in first place on the fifteenth lap. Evans received a five-second time penalty for his involvement in the incident that caused Hughes’ puncture. However, replays showed that Evans believed Hughes had moved across on him, leading to protests over the team radio. Cassidy reclaimed the lead a lap later, with Dennis and Nato, who had shown promise early on, now in 15th and 19th place respectively. Max Günther, who started at the back of the grid due to a penalty, had made his way into the top 10.
Vergne swiftly moved into first place on the seventeenth lap, with Cassidy still conserving his position in fifth. However, Cassidy regained the lead once again on the eighteenth lap, with Wehrlein in tenth place and needing to stay in touch. With a little over a quarter of the race remaining, the peloton began to spread out slightly, with Cassidy maintaining his lead, da Costa in second, and Evans in third, in a prime position to support his countryman and teammate.
On the twenty-first lap, da Costa overtook Cassidy to claim the lead, while Wehrlein activated his Attack Mode, briefly dropping out of the top 10. Cassidy quickly regained his position at the front, with Evans desperately searching for a way past da Costa’s Porsche. Despite Wehrlein’s attempt, he struggled to make significant progress and was under investigation for an incident involving Günther’s Maserati.
With four laps to go, Cassidy led the race, and Evans finally overtook da Costa to secure second place, putting himself in a prime position to support Cassidy. With only two laps remaining, Evans, despite his penalty making a victory unlikely, seemed determined to challenge Cassidy. However, as he took a tight line at the end of the lap, he went wide and slid onto the grass, rejoining the race in 18th place. This mistake cost Evans his chance of victory and tightened Cassidy’s grip on the championship lead.
Evans crossed the finish line first on the road, but da Costa once again emerged as the winner. Frijns finished second, followed by Vergne in third. Cassidy was fortunate that his lead in the championship was only reduced by one point, as Wehrlein failed to take full advantage of his mistake.