5. Cassidy wins the shootout
After two safety car interruptions and a lot of racing laps that didn’t mean much, the e-Prix came down to a three-way battle between championship rivals Nick Cassidy and Jake Dennis, and Porsche works driver Antonio Felix da Costa, who is out of the title hunt and therefore had less to lose.
In a race extended by four laps because of the interruptions, the trio finally let loose with a few laps to go. It was Cassidy who once again proved the most adept at timing his run to perfection. The Kiwi, who drives for the Jaguar-powered Envision team, took the flag for his third victory of the year and jumped back to the head of the title standings.
Dennis was second for Porsche-powered Andretti, as he has been in four of the past five rounds. The British driver started from pole position, a status declared “unlucky” by Cassidy in a comment that said it all about this wacky way of going racing. The pole had at least pushed Dennis back ahead of Porsche works driver Pascal Wehrlein in the points pre-race, but he leaves Portland just one behind Cassidy with just four rounds to go – two in Rome on July 15/16 and two in and around London’s ExCel arena on July 29/30.
From leading, Wehrlein is now 16 points down on Cassidy after front wing damage incurred in the pack racing left him eighth. Jaguar’s Mitch Evans finished fourth, but should now be considered a title long-shot, 32 points down on his countryman.
Images courtesy of Motorsport Images