Three wins in four races. That is the incredible achievement that TAG Heuer Porsche’s Antonio Felix da Costa managed in Portland. The former champion came from fourth on the grid to get his 11th victory in the all-electric championship after drama unfolded up ahead.
Championship leader Nick Cassidy looked locked in and ready to take the win, and extend his championship points gap even further, but an uncharacteristic mistake led to him going off on the grass on the penultimate lap. The error saw him fall down the grid and would ultimately finish in 19th.
Mitch Evans inherited the lead from his teammate, but also had troubles of his own as the Jaguar driver had been handed a penalty earlier in the race. After contact with the NEOM McLaren of Jake Hughes, Evans was given a five-second time penalty which demoted him from first at the line to eighth.
“I mean, firstly, got to say congrats to Mitch because he did win this one on the track and I know how it feels to get one taken away,” race-winner da Costa said after Round 13. “So, you know, hats off to him. “
“Obviously, we'll take it. We did everything right today. It's always hard fighting against two cars of the same team [in Jaguar], but we were able to put them under pressure and then Nick made a mistake at the end.”
After winning for Porsche at home in Berlin, as well as again in Shanghai, this makes it da Costa’s third win of the season. It’s a great comeback for the man who had his struggles, and his future at Porsche questioned, at the start of the season.
“For me today. I just really wanted to keep it clean, be there at the end, and then see how it unfolds. It looked like I was gonna finish third. So it's an amazing run of races.
“I will never ever, after what I've been through this year, take any win or any podium for granted. I got lucky today to get this win, so I will make sure to enjoy it for sure.
“These points help us in every way. The goal is to try and catch Jaguar in the concert on the Teams’ championship. Final stretch.”