Formula E in Portland: Antonio Felix da Costa also wins Sunday's race, no points for Cassidy again
Tobias Wirtz
Antonio Felix da Costa has also won the second Formula E race in Portland. The Porsche driver prevailed against Robin Frijns and Mitch Evans. While Pascal finished fourth despite front wing damage, championship leader Nick Cassidy was left without points after another front wing defect.
At the start, Jean-Eric Vergne retained the lead ahead of Antonio Felix da Costa. Behind them, the two McLaren drivers touched slightly, but were able to continue without any problems. As usual, there were many position changes in the first laps, and most of the drivers activated their attack mode early. Nick Cassidy dropped back quite far early on to save energy.
The focus then turned to Pascal Wehrlein: the Porsche driver damaged his front wing in a collision with Nyck de Vries, causing it to rub under the car. However, he lost the wing after a short time and was able to continue without restrictions. But Sam Bird hit the front wing on the way to the fast turn 10 and came off the track. He drove through the grass and then came into the pits, losing a whole lap.
Nightmare for Wehrlein! ?
The @PorscheFormulaE driver's front wing lodges itself under the car, slowing his progress massively.@Hankook_Sport #PortlandEPrix pic.twitter.com/cB8ccKdpaG
- Formula E (@FIAFormulaE) June 30, 2024
Sebastien Buemi, who had been in the lead at one point, received a drive-through penalty for low tyre pressure, which dropped him to the back of the field. Jake Hughes braked too late in the first corner and drove hard over the curbs, but he was able to continue the race and only lost a few positions. Shortly afterwards, he damaged his front wing in a contact with Mortara. Fighting against Sacha Fenestraz another lap later, he slid off the track into the grass and lost a lot of ground. Fenestraz was given a five seconds time penalty for pushing Hughes off the track.
Front wing drama throws Cassidy a long way back
Then events came thick and fast: Dennis, de Vries, Collet and championship leader Cassidy came into the pits at the same time to have the front wings changed on their cars! A particularly hard blow for Cassidy. The replay showed that Evans had pushed his team-mate onto the rear of an Andretti car. One lap later, Mortara suffered a puncture in a contact with Felix da Costa and also had to come into the pits.
Traffic jam in the pits! ?
Cassidy, Dennis, de Vries and Collet all head back to the pit lane after sustaining damage in the melee.@Hankook_Sport #PortlandEPrix pic.twitter.com/Oh20lIV3CN
- Formula E (@FIAFormulaE) June 30, 2024
At this point, Vergne, Felix da Costa, Wehrlein, Frijns and the two ABT Cupra drivers were in the lead. Shortly afterwards, race control sent the safety car onto the track to clear the many pieces of debris lying on the track. The drivers at the back of the field, who had saved energy, subsequently caught up again.
Robin Frijns led the field, followed by Felix da Costa, Wehrlein, Vergne, Evans, Müller, di Grassi, Nato, Fenestraz and Günther. Fenestraz received a five-second time penalty for pushing a competitor off the track. However, the drivers from 15th onwards had an energy advantage and were able to catch up with the field behind the safety car.
Evans uses late attack mode & finishes on the podium
The race was restarted at the end of lap 20. Felix da Costa passes Frijns and took the lead. Evans activated his remaining attack mode and dropped back. However, he used the four minutes with the extra power to make up positions. On the 23rd lap, he passed Wehrlein and was thus third, overtaking Frijns one lap later.
Race control announced that the race would be extended by one lap due to the safety car phase. Frijns passed Evans again and reclaimed second place. He put Felix da Costa under pressure, but the Porsche driver remained in front.
ADMIN IS SHAKING ?@afelixdacosta keeps Frijns at bay to claim back-to-back victories in Portland!@Hankook_Sport #PortlandEPrix pic.twitter.com/p2GukOT4ix
- Formula E (@FIAFormulaE) June 30, 2024
Felix da Costa won the race ahead of Frijns and Evans. Behind them, Wehrlein, Vergne and Müller took the next places. World championship leader Nick Cassidy came away empty-handed in 13th place.
The season ends in around three weeks at the London E-Prix. e-Formula.news will be there for you in the British capital.
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