How Cassidy emerged triumphant from "mayhem" in Portland FE slow-burner

The inaugural Portland E-Prix presented a distinctly unique challenge for Formula E last weekend with its fast and flowing corners offering little opportunity to recoup energy. The pace early on was on the pedestrian side as positions regularly swapped to avoid leading, but Envision's Nick Cassidy came out on top when it mattered in a tussle with Andretti Porsche man Jake Dennis

There was a familiar face on top of the podium on Formula E’s first visit to Portland, after Nick Cassidy became the first three-time winner of the season. The event left opinion divided regarding the on-track action, but was otherwise an undoubted hit.

The fast, flowing Oregon venue, better known for hosting IndyCar and NASCAR, lived up to its promise of providing a unique spectacle, as the lack of braking zones meant few chances to recoup energy. It was always clear that this would be an energy-saving race in the Berlin mould, but this example was even more extreme, with drivers dawdling around as much as 13 seconds per lap slower than their cars were really capable of early in the race.

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Author Jamie Klein

Jamie Klein is one of Motorsport.com’s Global News Editors, reporting primarily on the FIA World Endurance Championship, Super Formula and SUPER GT. He took his first steps into motorsport journalism in 2013 as a freelancer before joining Motorsport Network full-time in 2015 as UK Editor. In 2016, he moved into a more wide-ranging role as he became a regular in the paddocks of the WEC and MotoGP. After a two-month trip to Japan in late 2018 gave him his first taste of reporting live on Super Formula and SUPER GT, he made the move to Tokyo permanently in 2019, and has been a regular presence in both paddocks since 2020. Away from motorsport, he is studying the Japanese language and can often be found relaxing in an ‘onsen’ (hot spring) or gorging on ramen, occasionally at the same time. He can be found on Twitter at @JamieKlein_.