Pascal Wehrlein put on a terrific fighting performance in the second race of the weekend at the Portland International Raceway to finish at the foot of the podium in fourth, a result that means the Formula E World Championship title battle will go right down to the wire at the final round in London in three weeks’ time.

The TAG-Heuer Porsche driver, who needed a good result to keep up the pressure on points leader Nick Cassidy (Jaguar), started from P7 on the grid and made a good start, but as had happened on Saturday he again suffered front end damage in the frenetic early laps. Surrounded by other drivers, Pascal made contact with Edoardo Mortara (Mahindra) on lap 6 and his entire front wing became lodged under his Porsche 99X Electric.

But the German opted not to make a time-consuming pit stop and it proved to be the right decision as his front wing came off completely one lap later, allowing him to continue the race. In seventeenth place on lap 9, Pascal was showing fantastic pace and had moved up through the field to P2 behind his team-mate Antonio Felix da Costa by lap 18, when the Safety-Car came out and had a decisive impact on the outcome of the race.

The final seven laps were a sprint dash to the line, and despite being down on top speed in this fast e-Prix race, Pascal held onto fourth behind Robin Frijns (Envision) and Mitch Evans (Jaguar), as Da Costa took the chequered flag for his third win in a row.

“What an eventful race!” said the #94 Porsche works driver. “On the one hand, I’m pleased I reached the finish line after losing my front wing early on. On the other hand, I could’ve done more today. Still, it’s a great result for the team. We’ve reduced my gap in the drivers’ championship to twelve points. Now we’re looking forward to London and the decider in the world championship.”

With Cassidy non-scoring for the second time this weekend, it’s all to play for at the indoor ExCel Centre Circuit in London, with just 12 points separating Cassidy from Wehrlein and Evans equal in second.