Portland ePrix – Race 2: Double for Antonio Felix da Costa, championship back on track

And if it was him? After his two victories in Portland, Antonio Felix da Costa has now won four out of the last five races. This momentum puts him back in the title race.

For this second race in Oregon, the Porsche driver, like the day before, managed to avoid the pitfalls and contacts, while preserving enough energy to defend his leading position until the checkered flag. His main opponents encountered several difficulties, as seen with Nick Casidy, still out of the points, or Jake Dennis, never able to fight at the front.

Competition, however, came from the outsiders. Starting in pole position, Jean-Eric Vergne believed in victory for a long time before seeing Mitch Evans and Pascal Wehrlein catching up. The German driver had a tumultuous race as he saw his front wing detach after contact with Edoardo Mortara’s Mahindra. Mortara himself later damaged the same part on Da Costa’s Porsche in an overambitious overtaking attempt.

In a more nervy race than the day before and with multiple contacts, the many debris left on the track forced the race direction to deploy the safety car about ten laps from the end. At the restart, the now fourth in the championship resisted the pressure from Envision’s Robin Frijns, discreet but perfect throughout the American weekend with two second places. Mitch Evans limits the damage for Jaguar with his third place while Vergne settles for fifth.

In the drivers’ championship, Cassidy now only has a twelve-point lead over his two closest pursuers, Evans and Wehrlein, who are tied. Da Costa follows twenty-one points behind this duo. In the team standings, Porsche is closing in on Jaguar, while DS Penske took advantage of the weekend to regain the third place that belonged to Nissan.

Now it’s time for the final two races of the season, which will take place in London on July 20 and 21. The suspense remains high in both championships. Cassidy will want to bounce back from his disappointment in Portland. Evans and Wehrlein will have nothing to lose, and Da Costa, Oliver Rowland, or even Vergne will want to create a surprise.

Portland 2024 ePrix Ranking – Race 2

Driver championship standings

Team championship ranking