Da Costa doubles up in Portland, title fight blown wide open

Antonio Felix Da Costa (TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team) doubled up in Portland with a cool performance in a frantic race.

The Portuguese driver nailed the restart following a safety car halfway through proceedings and prevailed in a battle with Robin Frijns (Envision Racing) to collect his fourth win in five races.

Meanwhile, the championship fight was blown wide open with Nick Cassidy (Jaguar TCS Racing) out of the points and both Pascal Wehrlein (TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team) and Mitch Evans (Jaguar TCS Racing) closing in in the overall standings.

“[Three wins in a row,] I honestly don’t know what to say – it’s crazy!,” Da Costa commented post-race. “I’m happy, I’m emotional, I’m everything.

“I’m just glad I’m getting to drive this way right now, I know it doesn’t last forever. I’ve been on it before, I’ve been out of it before, so I’m just going to continue to try to do things right and enjoy this moment.

“[The points from the disallowed win in Misano] would have been massive, but it is what it is. We tried to get them back and we failed.

“What could have been … I think a lot of people live by the motto of never giving up, but I think we’re showing that we’re going to a completely new level of that motto, to be honest. It’s insane.”

The race started off in a peloton style with the field staying close together and the order kept changing through the opening laps. However, the pace was much increased from yesterday’s first E-Prix in Portland and drivers kept making contact in the frantic early stages.

A multi-car incident on Lap 13 forced a number of drivers into pit lane, among them championship leader Cassidy. The safety car came out shortly after in response to debris left on the track.

Da Costa was quick to react at the restart, jumping Frijns for the lead. The Porsche driver immediately upped the pace and the race started to stretch out.

Evans swept past Frijns into second but when the Dutchman saw Da Costa trying to make a break for it, he retaliated on the penultimate lap and reeled the Porsche back in.

Frijns was shadowing Da Costa and looking for an opportunity to strike at the death. However, Da Costa stayed flawless through the final lap and made it a Portland double while Frijns also collected his second podium of the weekend.

“It’s a good way to bounce back, definitely,” the Dutchman said. “We’ve had a tough season and I have to say, the team did a mega job – we prepared well for this race and we delivered.

“I’m really happy with P2; unfortunately, we just missed out, it was closer than yesterday. But having double podiums, I’ll take it.

“It’s been a struggle, so I wanted to bounce back. I knew I could do it, I knew the team could do it, so here I am.”

Evans completed the podium in third, coming back strong after a penalty cost him the race win in the first Portland E-Prix.

“It’s nice after what happened yesterday. I’m finding it hard to get over yesterday, I think it was a ludicrous decision, hard to take. So it was nice to come back and get something today.

“We just didn’t quite optimise qualifying on my side and the starting position wasn’t optimal. But it was a really hard-fought race.

“I had to do my attack quite late, just because of the way the race was playing out, and I had to consume quite a lot of energy to make those overtakes with the high target. So I was a sitting duck at the end but it got me track positions.

“Good Points, I would have obviously loved to win, but after the safety car things really sped up and third was the best we could do.

“Obviously it’s unfortunate what happened to Nick [Cassidy], but I came into this weekend wanting to do my thing and see what happens. We’ll go to London tied with Pascal [Wehrlein] [for second] and it’s going to be tight between us.

“I’m sure Antonio [Felix Da Costa] must be close as well, he’s won every race in the past half season. It’s going to be a big fight.”

The podium finish promoted Evans into third in the championship standings, sitting on a 12-points deficit to Cassidy who failed to score after being forced into pit lane.

Likewise, Wehrlein, who braved some early front wing damage to finish fourth, cut his points disadvantage down to 12, making it a three-horse race for the title in the last race Weekend.

Jean-Eric Vergne (DS Penske) was fifth at his team’s home race ahead of Nico Muller (ABT Cupra Formula E Team) and Norman Nato (Andretti Formula E).

Maximilian Gunther (Maserati MSG Racing) took the chequered flag in eighth from Sebastien Buemi (Envision Racing) while Jake Dennis (Andretti Formula E) bagged the final point on offer in 10th.

Frijns and Envision Racing have had a season to forget so far and not many would have tipped the Dutchman to take one podium this weekend, never mind two.

Nevertheless, Frijns drove two excellent races and secured well-deserved consecutive rostrum finishes, boosting morale in the Envision camp.

Moreover, it was a special one for Frijns today as he made his 100th Formula E start, joining a very exclusive club with only six other drivers having collected a century of races so far (Lucas di Grassi (127 races), Jean-Eric Vergne (126 races), Antonio Felix Da Costa (126 races), Sebastien Buemi (123 races), Sam Bird (121 races), Mitch Evans (107 races)).

1/26: DA COSTA STEALS HOLESHOT – Blistering start from Da Costa who shoots into the lead followed by pole sitter Vergne.

6/26: TROUBLE FOR WEHRLEIN – Nightmare for Wehrlein who is suffering front wing damage. The wing is dislodged and threatening to get stuck under his car.

14/26: CONTACT EVERYWHERE – There’s contact up and down the order and a number of drivers are forced to head into the pits, including championship leader Cassidy.

18/26: SAFETY CAR – The safety car is out, likely in response to debris on the track. This brings the drivers who were forced into the pits back into contention and they have an energy advantage as well.

21/26: RESTART – Da Costa beats Frijns to the lead right after the restart and the pace is looking hot.

26/27: FLAT OUT TO THE END – Da Costa is in the lead and he is now going for the race win. Behind, Frijns moves back past Evans into second.

27/27: DA COSTA WINS IN PORTLAND – Da Costa completes an error-free last lap and holds Frijns behind him to double up in Portland. Evans is third with Wehrlein in fourth, scoring some very valuable championship points with Cassidy out of the top 10.