Portland E-Prix: Nick Cassidy Takes Chaotic Race Win

Nick Cassidy mastered the peloton-style racing once again at the inaugural Portland E-Prix, as the Kiwi clinched his third victory of the 2022/23 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship. Jake Dennis and António Félix da Costa completed the podium after what was a chaotic race.

Starting Grid

Starting on pole position for the inaugural Formula E race at the Portland International Raceway was Jake Dennis, who defeated Sacha Fenestraz in the duels. Dennis actually snatched the championship lead by two points following his first pole of the season, due to the three points he was awarded after the session. Former championship leader Pascal Wehrlein qualified twentieth but will start from eighteenth, due to both DS Penske drivers having been penalised with a pit-lane start.

The Start: Dennis Leads the Pack

So it was Dennis alongside Fenestraz on the front row, could the Briton capitalise on his sensational qualifying performance? As the red lights went out, it was Dennis who made the best start and led out of the opening few corners, with Fenestraz having remained in second. At the back and both DS Penske drivers had been released from the pits, as they quickly tried to catch the pack.

It was clear instantly that it was going to be a chaotic and strategic race, due to there not really being a part of the circuit where energy can be recovered. The man on the move early on was António Félix da Costa, who progressed from seventh to fourth in the opening three laps. Elsewhere, and Nico Müller broke his front wing, following a collision at the opening corner.

It was an almost identical style race to Berlin, with nobody having wanted to lead. There were literally overtakes at every corner on every lap, as the field remained almost side-by-side throughout each lap. Lap Five and Norman Nato claimed the lead of the race, as Dennis slipped to third purposefully. The chaos was brought to a halt on the fifth lap as a Safety Car was released, as rookie Roberto Merhi grinded to a halt.

Early Stages: Müller has Huge Crash

The Safety Car gave all the remaining drivers a chance to breathe, with it having been the first time that all the cars actually ran in single file. Importantly, the Safety Car allowed both DS Penske drivers to catch the pack, which became very stretched whilst the race was neutralised. One driver who wasn’t helped by the Safety Car was Fenestraz, who was forced to pit prior to green flags being waved for a new front wing, after accidentally hitting his team-mate.

Nato restarted the race on Lap Eight, whilst team-mate Fenestraz tumbled to the bottom of the running order due to his front wing change. When he re-emerged onto the circuit, the rookie was half a lap behind. Several of the leading drivers opted to activate their first Attack Mode on Lap Eight, resulting in the field bunching back up again. It was virtually impossible to keep up with all the overtakes, as the drivers went up to four-wide on virtually every straight.

A huge crash for Müller on Lap Ten saw the second Safety Car of the race released, with the Swiss driver having looked slightly shaken. Based on the replays of the crash it’s easy to see why, as it appeared that he had no brakes at a high-speed corner. His car was absolutely destroyed, as a result of him having gone across the grass before colliding with a barrier at full-speed. Thankfully, the Swiss driver walked away uninjured.

Mid-Race: Jaguar Duo Make Their Move

So, after all the carnage from the opening thirteen laps, Nick Cassidy somehow led the field behind the Safety Car, ahead of Nato and Maximilian Günther. Dennis sat in sixth whilst Pascal Wehrlein found himself in eleventh, whilst fourth in the standings Mitch Evans occupied seventeenth. The second Safety Car was a blessing for Fenestraz, who was able to catch the back of the pack following his pit-stop.

Several laps behind the Safety Car were completed, so that Müller’s car could be safely removed and so that the barriers could be checked over, something which was necessary given how big a hit it was. Whilst behind the Safety Car, the race director had some drivers change position, due to many having accidently switched when the second Safety Car was initially summoned. One of the changes saw Nato take the lead, with Cassidy dropping to second.

The race finally got back underway on Lap Sixteen, where Nato opted to push hard to activate his second Attack Mode. Cassidy moved back into the lead though, with Da Costa having risen to second. Amongst all the drama, Evans had worked his way into fifth, whilst Wehrlein sat in sixteenth with front wing damage following a collision at the opening corner. Lap Twenty and Cassidy still led the race, whilst Sam Bird was another to surprisingly make his way into the top three.

Lap Twenty-Two and the race finally had a new leader, as Da Costa hit the front. He led from Cassidy and Günther, whilst importantly, Wehrlein remained well outside the top ten.

Closing Stages: Cassidy Holds Off Dennis For Portland Win

Da Costa was clearly a man on a mission, as the Portuguese driver suddenly increased the pace of the race. Da Costa’s team-mate saw this as his moment to start his own charge, as Wehrlein progressed suddenly into tenth. Astonishingly, despite having started in the pits, Jean-Éric Vergne had worked his way into fourth by Lap Twenty-Five. As Lap Twenty-Six started, it was announced that there’d be four added laps, due to the earlier Safety Cars.

At the front and Cassidy retook the lead, with Dennis having also gotten into third. With five laps to go the pace was suddenly very fast, as those with more energy began to stretch their legs. Dennis was driving sublimely, with the Briton having overtaken Da Costa for second with a stunning move around the outside at Turn Four. Da Costa wasn’t finished though, as the former FE Champion reclaimed the position.

Looming large behind the top three were both Jaguar TCS Racing drivers, who also looked great on energy. As they started the penultimate lap, Cassidy led from Da Costa and Dennis, whilst the Kiwi’s team-mate Sébastian Buemi sat in fourth. It was impossible to predict who’d win the race, as the leading trio built a small gap to Buemi in fourth.

As they started the final lap of a bonkers race, the leading trio remained where they were through the opening chicane. Dennis was clearly keen to hit the front; however, he just couldn’t get past Da Costa. Or could he? Dennis made a sensational move for second with three corners to go, before immediately getting onto the rear of Cassidy. There just wasn’t the time to get the Envision Racing driver though, who claimed the win narrowly ahead of Dennis.

Da Costa completed the podium, whilst Wehrlein could only salvage ninth. It was a significant blow to Wehrlein’s title chances, with him having fallen to third in the standings. At the top and Dennis maintained the lead; albeit, with Cassidy just a point behind ahead of the double-header in Rome. In the Constructors’ Championship and TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team do remain at the top; however, Envision are now just four points behind.

Portland E-Prix Round 12: Provisional Race Results

POS.	NO.	DRIVER.	NAT.	TEAM.	TIME/GAP.
1	37	Nick Cassidy	NZL	Envision Racing	50:40.629
2	27	Jake Dennis	GBR	Avalanche Andretti Formula E	+0.294
3	13	António Félix da Costa	PRT	TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team	+1.140
4	9	Mitch Evans	NZL	Jaguar TCS Racing	+1.758
5	16	Sébastian Buemi	CHE	Envision Racing	+2.220
6	7	Maximilian Günther	DEU	Maserati MSG Racing	+2.307
7	10	Sam Bird	GBR	Jaguar TCS Racing	+2.638
8	11	Lucas Di Grassi	BRZ	Mahindra Racing	+2.982
9	94	Pascal Wehrlein	DEU	TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team	+3.684
10	17	Norman Nato	FRA	Nissan Formula E Team	+3.961
11	4	Robin Frijns	NED	ABT CUPRA Formula E Team	+4.300
12	25	Jean-Éric Vergne	FRA	DS Penske	+4.718
13	1	Stoffel Vandoorne	BEL	DS Penske	+4.982
14	33	Dan Ticktum	GBR	NIO 333 Racing	+5.470
15	58	René Rast	DEU	NEOM McLaren Formula E Team	+6.115
16	23	Sacha Fenestraz	FRA	Nissan Formula E Team	+6.699
17	3	Sérgio Sette Câmara	BRZ	NIO 333 Racing	+7.167
18	5	Jake Hughes	GBR	NEOM McLaren Formula E Team	+12.977
19	36	André Lotterer	DEU	Avalanche Andretti Formula E	+16.051
20	48	Edoardo Mortara	CHE	Maserati MSG Racing	DNF
21	51	Nico Müller	CHE	ABT CUPRA Formula E Team	DNF
22	8	Roberto Merhi	ESP	Mahindra Racing	DNF