ePrix Portland 2024: Presentation and challenges

Absent since the double appointment in Shanghai at the end of May, the Formula E returns this week to a circuit it discovered last year. Since the last races, some drivers took the opportunity to make a detour to Le Mans for the 24 Hours of Le Mans, while others were able to enjoy a long break. With four races left in the season, tension will quickly return to the seats of the electric single-seaters.

Second visit for Formula E in Portland

After Miami, Long Beach and New York, the Formula E had discovered a new destination in the United States in 2023. Unlike the Florida, California, and New York cities, the city of Oregon hosted the championship not on an urban track, but on a closed circuit.

Placed at the end of the season like this year, the American race had helped to narrow the gaps at the top of the championship since it was Nick Cassidy who had won at the wheel of his Envision powered by Jaguar. In a tight battle with Jake Dennis and Mitch Evans for the title, the New Zealander then emerged as a serious contender for the world crown.

The race had been marked by a game of cat and mouse between the successive leaders, several drivers not wanting to lead the pack for fear of using up too much energy. Starting from pole position, Dennis was unable to do anything against Cassidy’s comeback, but his second place on the podium had allowed him to stay in the running for the title, which he would eventually win a few weeks later.

A very energy-intensive circuit

Composed of long straight lines interspersed with fast corners, the Portland International Circuit places energy management as the central point to monitor during the race. Apart from the first braking followed by a chicane and the hairpin of turn 7, the places to recharge the batteries solely with the brake pedal are rare.

The first part of the circuit is thus composed of this first chicane followed by a double right-hand turn that tightens and a left-hand curve, before braking for turn 7 which sets up the long curved straight of the return.

This long full throttle leads the drivers to the last sequence of the circuit consisting of a slight left and a slight right, before a tighter right turn which determines the start/finish straight line.

Nick Cassidy on the royal road

On the podium five times in the last six races, Nick Cassidy is on an impressive streak of excellent results. His consistency has allowed him to widen the gap with his main pursuers, Pascal Wehrlein, Mitch Evans, and Oliver Rowland.

If the German can still claim the title, he sees the New Zealander catching up with him. The two Jaguar drivers are thus in a good position to finish this season in the top two spots of the drivers’ championship. Cassidy and Evans will logically be favorites in Oregon.

Wehrlein and Rowland will not let themselves be taken advantage of. With four races left in the championship, they know they no longer have any room for error. Antonio Felix da Costa’s wins in Berlin and Shanghai have shown that Porsche is probably one of the few teams that can compete with the formidable Jaguars in this final part of the season. Wehrlein therefore has the weapons to fight.

In China, poleman Jean-Eric Vergne will be looking to convert the good performances of his DS E-TENSE FE23 in qualifying into the race. The French driver and his teammate Stoffel Vandoorne are determined to score the few points that separate their team from Nissan in third place in the constructors’ championship.

The start of the two races of the Portland ePrix will be given on Saturday, June 29th at 11:00 pm and on Sunday, June 30th at 11:00 pm (French time).