The Portland E-Prix Race 2 saw António Félix Da Costa in the TAG Heuer Porsche take his third win in four races. He led from Robin Frijns in the Envision racing and Mitch Evans in the TCS Jaguar.
Jean-Éric Vergne started on Pole for the second race at the Portland E-Prix. He took the record with 17 career poles. António Félix Da Costa lined up second, with NEOM McLaren’s Sam Bird in third.
The Start
Vergne had a good start, but he headed into the first corner behind Da Costa. Frijns was in third and the two NEOM McLaren’s headed in close behind.
Bird managed to get past the Envision of Frijns, but Hughes in the other McLaren had a mega jump going from fifth into first down the start finish line. De Vries also jumped up the order, getting himself behind Hughes in the McLaren in second.
Vergne, after three laps, found himself in third. However, he used his attack mode to get himself back into the lead. Bird, who led in the early laps, found himself falling back through the pack into ninth.
With another round of Attack Modes being used, Hughes, who had taken the lead, held off De Vries in the Mahindra, but it was short-lived as Hughes dropped back. Nyck De Vries took the lead. Again short-lived as some still had time left on their Attack Modes, Vergne jumped from third back into the lead. Da Costa taking second and Beumi in third.
Sam Bird took a run through the grass as Wehrlein had a front wing fall off and catch under Bird’s McLaren. Sam Bird headed into the pits. Wehrlein, however, overcame the initial damage and continued on racing.
A fight at the front had the McLaren of Hughes, the DS Penske of Vergne, and the Envision of Beumi all fighting for the lead. Hughes went deep into the corner, dropping from first to fourth. Beumi overtook Vergne for the lead, but Vergne stayed close to the back of the green Envision Racing.
Getting Going
Vergne used his attack mode to get ahead of Beumi, but Nico Müller in the ABT CUPRA managed to get ahead. Bird came back out on track but ran last. Wehrlein ran was running without a wing into Lap 10, in eighth.
Beumi received a technical infraction, and he headed into the pits, coming out in 21st, making his race far more difficult.
Lap 12, Müller was over taken by Robin Frijns but he quickly regained the lead as Jake Hughes ran through the grass, falling to 20th.
Dennis, De Vries, Collet and Cassidy all headed into the pits on Lap 14. Da Costa took the lead as Wehrlein moved up to third. However, he was under investigation for the damage his front wing did to Sam Bird’s McLaren.
Mortara in the Mahindra had contact with the Tag Heuer Porsche of António Félix Da Costa, getting a puncture and sliding into the grass. He headed into the pits. Jean-Éric Vergne resumed the lead, but on Lap 17 Wehrlein took lead, then Da Costa took the lead back from his teammate. Vergne was close behind in third, followed by Frijns in fourth.
Safety Car
A safety car was called on Lap 19 because of the debris on track. This enabled Cassidy, Beumi, De Vries, Collet and all the drivers who headed into the pits to catch up to the pack.
During the safety car, Fenestraz was given a 5 second penalty for pushing Hughes off of the track.
Under the safety car, Robin Frijns in the Envision led from António Félix Da Costa and Pascal Wehrlein in the Tag Heuer Porsche. The DS Penske of Vergne was in fourth with Mitch Evans in the TCS Jaguar behind in fifth.
Green Flag
On lap 21, the safety car ended, Robin Frijns leading the pack away. Frijns had a good restart managing to stay ahead of Da Costa. However, Da Costa got ahead by turn 2, with Wehrlein putting pressure on Frijns and Vergne closing in on Wehrlein.
Mitch Evans used his Attack Mode while the pack was bunched up, which moved him up to sixth. Di Grassi in the ABT CUPRA ran wide, and Evans went through, up into fifth.
Down the start Finish straight Evans made the most of his Attack Mode, getting past Wehrlein into third. Evans’s TCS Jaguar teammate Nick Cassidy was still down in 17th, slowly making progress into 16th.
Mitch Evans made a move on the Envision of Frijns. Frijns fought back, but it wasn’t enough to hold off the Jaguar. Evan’s getting past and up into second.
Beumi who’s race had seemed over after a technical infringement managed to get his Envision into 10th for Lap 25. The Mahindras found themselves with less energy remaining than those around them, putting them in a difficult position in the final stages.
Robin Frijns was closing on Da Costa as they headed into the last lap, Frijns closing in on the Porsche. Da Costa had a phenomenal exit in the final few corners. Frijns wasn’t close enough in the final charge to the line. António Félix Da Costa crossed the line, taking his third win in three races.
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