Envision Racing’s Nick Cassidy on Saturday won the first-ever Southwire Portland E-Prix ahead of Avalanche Andretti Formula E Team driver Jake Dennis in second place, propelling the pair to the top of the world championship standings with Dennis leading Cassidy by a point.
TAG Heuer Porsche’s Antonio Felix da Costa finished third while just seven seconds split the first 17 cars at the flag.
Cassidy measured his race to perfection starting from P10 on the grid as the 22-strong field jostled for superiority over the 32-lap race. It is the first time the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship has raced at the famed Portland International Raceway, and Formula E’s unique balancing act between energy efficiency and outright pace was evident.
The strategic battle for top spot was clear from the opening lap as positions and race leaders changed corner by corner in groups five and six wide at points, resulting in 403 passes during the race.
Kiwi Cassidy led the way several times but got the better of da Costa, himself a race leader, on Lap 28 with the decisive move, only a few turns after the Portuguese had seized the initiative.
Cassidy first hit the front on Lap 3 while da Costa clambered through the pack from P8 to pile the pressure on the Envision Racing driver right to the flag, but Cassidy held fast for a third win of Season 9.
Jake Dennis started in Julius Baer Pole Position and led the opening stages but couldn’t time his late-race charge as precisely as Cassidy, though he did manage to pass da Costa in the final lap to push the Portuguese into third.
Going into the race, Pascal Wehrlein (TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team) was leading the Drivers’ standings by just one point ahead of Dennis. The German was fortunate to escape contact and come home in ninth, just inside the points at the checkered flag. Wehrlein sits in third on 136 points, trailing the leading pair of Dennis and Cassidy on 154 and 153 points respectively.
More than 20,000 attended the sold-out debut race for the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship in Portland. Cheerleaders from the local NBA team, the Portland Trail Blazers, entertained fans, while first-year forward for the Trail Blazers Jabari Walker also enjoyed the race. Olympic champion skier Lindsey Vonn was embedded with the Jaguar TCS Racing team and experienced a high-speed electric lap of the track.
Cassidy said: “It’s cool. I’ve had a good run in America the last couple of years. I love racing here. That race was fun. Look, it’s close. The guys we’re racing are top. Jake did an amazing job in (qualification). I think he was unlucky to be starting on pole. Today wasn’t the race to be doing that. And Antonio in these races is always fantastic as well. It’s close, it’s fun, it’s Formula E … Credit to Jaguar and credit to Envision Racing. What a car, what a powertrain.”
