Nissan Formula E driver Oliver Rowland will miss this weekend’s Portland E-Prix doubleheader due to illness, with the team’s reserve and simulator driver Caio Collet filling in instead.
The team released a statement ahead of opening practice for the weekend confirming the news, adding that “the whole team wishes oli a quick recovery and to see him back in action in London next month.”
The news is a huge blow for Rowland’s title chances, with the British driver (pictured above) currently just 36 points off leader Nick Cassidy with four races remaining. He’s scored six podiums so far this season, including four in a row across the Diriyah, Tokyo, and Misano weekends, ending with a win in Italy after on-the-road victor Antonio Felix da Costa was disqualified. It was very nearly two wins — which would have made him the only driver to sweep a doubleheader weekend this season — but an energy miscalculation led to him retiring from the lead in the second Misano race.
Rowland’s stand-in, 22-year-old Brazilian Collet, has been with Nissan since the start of this season, and drove for the team at the Rookie Test immediately after the Berlin E-Prix in May.
Collet has been dovetailing his role as the team’s simulator and reserve driver with a campaign in Indy NXT. He is currently third in the Indy NXT standings with four podiums from eight starts so far, including a pair of second places in the most recent round at Laguna Seca.