Cassidy insists 'frustrated' Portland no-score reaction 'natural'

Nick Cassidy has insisted that his reaction not scoring a point in the Portland E-Prix double-header was "natural", although he recognises that not all is lost. 

The Jaguar driver entered the weekend with a chance of effectively sealing the championship, something he looked set to do when leading the opening race of the double-header in the closing laps. 

However, Cassidy made a shock rare error at the penultimate corner on the penultimate lap whilst leading, as he lost the rear of his car and spun. 

He failed to score a point as a result, whilst contact with another driver – an incident out of his control – in the second race saw him fail to score a point yet again. 

Cassidy's Portland nightmare has turned the standings on its head, as he now sits just 12 points ahead of team-mate Mitch Evans and Pascal Wehrlein. In fact, it has now become a five-way title fight in the London season finale. 

Understandably, Cassidy's initial reactions during the weekend were one of deep frustration and annoyance, especially as he looked strong in both races. 

"In the heat of the moment I was frustrated with the result which I think is natural," said Cassidy after Sunday's race. "I had my strategy and was in a really good position. 

"At the time of the contact I was around P9 with Attack time remaining and was up on energy on the majority of the field. I have a 12-point lead but have scored zero in two races – so it could be much worse. 

"I think we’re going to be strong in London. I’m looking forward to it – it’s one of my favourite tracks on the calendar – and it’s going to be a fight. Stand up and bring it on!"

With Evans losing a victory due to a five-second penalty in the opening race, and then claiming a podium in the second, Portland was a wild weekend for Jaguar. 

The Coventry-based team did set the record for most points scored in a single season; however, its lead over Porsche has been reduced to just 33 points. 

It puts Jaguar under increasing pressure ahead of London, with team principal James Barclay recognising not everything went to plan in the United States.

"This has been a weekend of two halves," said Barclay. "It’s been positive to end with a podium for Mitch today after all the hard work, but ultimately this weekend was one where we had the performance potential for so much more. 

"Unfortunately, it didn’t work out that way due to a combination of things both out of and in our control. As always we will look to see what we could do better and make us stronger as a team.

“I really feel for Nick though. One of the risks of this style of strategic racing and this kind of pack racing is that if someone makes a mistake in front of you, there is sometimes nothing that you can do to avoid those incidents."