Photo credits: Formula E Media Bank / Sam Bloxham
It’s qualifying time for the first time ever in Portland for Formula E! Many teams and drivers have been on top during practise, included Nissan’s Norman Nato and Rene Rast for McLaren, but who will be starting on pole for the main event of the weekend?
After Jaguar’s Mitch Evans stopped in the pit lane at the end of FP2, the team decided as a precaution to change his battery and powertrain ahead of qualifying. The situation will be investigated after the session for breaking pit lane procedure.
Group 1 will see out on track championship leader Pascal Wehrlein, as well as both Envision Racing, Nissan, DS Penske and Nio drivers, Jakarta E-Prix winner Maximilian Guenther and Nico Muller.
Cassidy goes fastest first in 1:10.646s, but after the first round of timed attempts Nissan is on top with Fenestraz signing a 1:09.860, followed by Nato, Vergne and Guenther. Many drivers returned into the pits after their early attempts for fresher tyres.
The two times Formula E champion improves to provisionally second fastest, just as Nato ran wide at Turn 1, but managed to keep it off the wall.
Former championship leader Nick Cassidy’s best attempt so far puts him in P5 with two minutes to go, only 0.020s out of the duels. His final attempt saw him running on the curbs, but in spite of a great first sector the Kiwi driver is stuck out of the duels.
Guenther spins out during his last attempt, but his earlier effort was enough to move forward, as Fenestraz, Vergne, Nato and the Maserati driver move forward. Reigning champion Stoffel Vandoorne bumps Cassidy to P6 of the group.
The DS Penske drivers have also been investigated for technical infringements, so it’s still to be seen if Verge will actually take part in the duels.
Avalanche Andretti’s Jake Dennis will definitely try to take advantage of his championship rivals’ struggles, with both Wehrlein and Cassidy not appearing to be as fast as in previous rounds.
After the first effort Mortara takes the top spot with a 1:10.374, followed by Bird, Dennis and Rast. His second attempts sees the British driver driving for the American team in the top spot as Mortara runs wide in the grass. Rast, Frijns and Lotterer are all through.
Mitch Evans steps out of his car and takes off his helmet, suggesting that he will not take part in qualifying at all, as the other drivers return to the pits for a tyre swap. It’s definitely a sad moment for the Kiwi driver and birthday boy, who has had the most Duel appearances so far in the 2023 season.
It’s definitely not Jaguar’s day, as a very frustrated Sam Bird slots in P7, saying on the radio that that’s all he has.
An hectic end of the session sees through to the Duels Rast, Dennis, Hughes and Da Costa, with Lotterer is in P5 only 0.011s off the Porsche driver’s best attempt.
Both DS Penske drivers will have to start the race from the pit lane after the team was found to have installed scanning equipment able to collect live tyre data from all cars, but the first duel of the day still sees Norman Nato facing Jean Eric Vergne for a place in the semi finals. The Nissan driver prevails in the end.
Up next is Gunther vs. Fenestraz. The French driver started with a good gap over the race winner, and in spite of running a bit wide in the final corner and losing two tenths, he still managed to move to the next stage .
The third duel sees two British drivers, with Hughes against Dennis. The McLaren driver was close in the first sector, but the second placed driver in the championship standings won by almost 0.300s.
The final quarter final sees Da Costa facing Rast. The Portuguese driver had a 0.300s advantage at the beginning of his attempt, but the fast McLaren driver, leader of the first practise session of the weekend, caught up to him after a mistake in the first corner and goes on to complete the line up for the semi finals.
It’s a Nissan affair for the first semi final, as the two French drivers compete for a chance to start on the front row. Fenestraz, who had achieved his first Formula E pole position in the Cape Town E-Prix, moves through to the final with over 0.300s of advantage on Nato.
Dennis and Rast are the next drivers on track, with the Andretti driver advancing to the finals in his team’s home race by 0.455s. Will the British driver get pole position and the three points that would allow him to start the Portland E-Prix as the championship leader?
Fenestraz is the first out on track, but Dennis is faster in the first sector. The Nissan driver then improves in the second sector, but hits the wall in the final part of the track, allowing Dennis to score his first pole position of the season and to earn the championship lead.
