The Jaguar TCS Racing of Mitch Evans took pole in the Portland Formula E Qualifying session. Norman Nato took second but starts 12th because of penalties carried over from Shanghai. Evans also set the new lap record in Portland with a 1:08.664.
Heading into the first qualifying of the Portland E-Prix weekend, the title contenders of Nick Cassidy and Pascal Wehrlein were looking for a strong starting position for the race later today.
Nato, Bird and Di Grassi were all facing grid penalties in Portland from incidents in Shanghai.
NEOM McLaren’s Sam Bird received a 5-place penalty for an incident with Nyck de Vries in Shanghai. Andretti’s Norman Nato reached three reprimands throughout the season, which has led to a 10-place grid penalty for Portland. Finally, ABT CUPRA’s Lucas di Grassi received a 3-place penalty for an incident with Jehan Daruvala and Dan Ticktum in Shanghai. These three drivers were looking to get as far up the grid as possible to minimize the damage from these penalties.
António Félix Da Costa in the TAG Heuer Porsche was looking strong in the FP2 earlier today. He was hoping to have a similar performance in qualifying.
Group A
The 11 cars in Group A took to the track for the first session in qualifying, wanting to get their fast laps on the board. Sébastien Buemi was the first driver to get a fast lap on the board with a 1:10.017.
The NEOM McLaren of Jake Hughes took the P1 slot from the Envision racing of Buemi with a 1:09.887. Behind Buemi, Nico Müller sat with a 1:10.079 and Nick Cassidy had a 1:10.092, with close margins between the top 4.
Three minutes remained in the Group A session when the 11 cars headed back out for their second fast runs. Mitch Evans seemed to struggle on his first runs, finding himself 0.282 adrift from Jake Hughes in P1.
The two ABT CUPRA’s put in impressive laps, with Luke di Grassi taking second with a 1:09.942, teammate Nico Müller behind by just 0.056. However, they were moved down to third and fourth as Mitch Evans did the fastest lap overall, putting in a 1:09.777.
Sérgio Sette Câmara’s last lap in the ERT was good enough as he advanced to third place, surpassing Nico Müller and securing a spot in the Duels stage of qualifying. However, Sette Câmara was under investigation over impeding Jean-Éric Vergne in his last lap.
The surprise of Group A was Nick Cassidy, the championship leader, not making it through to the duels stage.
The four who made it through were Jake Hughes, Sérgio Sette Câmara, Mitch Evans and Luke di Grassi.
Group B
The next 11 drivers one by one headed out on to the track, led by Robin Frijns in the Envision Racing car. Frijns put in the first fast lap with a 1:10.348. Although, Da Costa in the TAG Heuer Porsche responded with a 1:09.803, showing the performance that was seen by the Porsche driver in the FP2 session earlier today.
Dan Ticktum crossed the timing line and took P1 with a time of 1:09.766, faster than the fastest time in Group A. Showing that the track was evolving with every lap.
The drivers went back into the pits, preparing for their second run. With five minutes left in the session, the top four were Ticktum in P1, who led from Da Costa, Dennis and Nato. Again, championship contender Pascal Wehrlein went into the second part of Group B qualifying fifth, not enough at that stage to get through to the Duels stage.
Ticktum was the first to head back out on track for the final few fast laps of Group B. He improved in the first part of his lap but could not go faster overall. Caio Collet, the rookie sub in the Nissan, went fourth fastest with a 1:10.036.
Pascal Wehrlein got himself to third with a 1:09.899. However, both Robin Frijns went third, pushing Wehrlein to fourth. Norman Nato put his Andretti in fourth with a 1:09.878, pushing championship contender Wehrlein out of the Duels stage.
Ticktum secured his position as P1, marking his first appearance in the Duels stage for the 2024 season. Behind him, also making it into the Duels, was Da Costa in the TAG Heuer Porsche, Robin Frijns in the Envision Racing, and Norman Nato in the Andretti.
Duels
Sérgio Sette Câmara got demoted from the duels stage of qualifying because of the impeding of the DS Penske of Jean-Éric Vergne, Edoardo Mortara in the Mahindra taking his place.
The first pair to go head-to-head in the Duels were ABT CUPRA’s Luke di Grassi and Jaguar’s Mitch Evans. Di Grassi took to the track first, with Evans following behind. Both got one warm up lap and one fast lap. Evans took the advantage in the first part of the lap and made it stick, moving through to the semi-finals.
Mahindra’s Edoardo Mortara and NEOM McLaren’s Jake Hughes were the second Duels’ group, with Mortara heading out on track first. Heading into the final corners, Mortara went off the track, aborting the lap as Hughes got through into the Semi-finals.
Envision Racing’s Robin Frijns and the TAG Heuer Porsche of António Félix Da Costa were the third group in the Duels, with Da Costa having an impressive first sector. Frijns struggled with his Envision Racing car, but Da Costa ran wide in the final sector. Robin Frijns got through to the semi-finals.
Norman Nato in the Andretti and the ERT of Dan Ticktum were the last group in the duels, Ticktum struggling with under-steer in the first part of his lap. Nato had a 1:09.026 which wasn’t the fastest lap from the Duels or qualifying. However, it was enough to beat Ticktum into the semi-finals.
The 4 that made it into the semi-finals were Evans and Hughes who went head-to-head in the semi-finals with Nato and Frijns then going up against each other.
Semi-Finals
Mitch Evans’ Jaguar and Jake Hughes’ NEOM were the first to go head-to-head for their 1 lap shootout. Evans is in the position to fight for the championship, so this was an important session for the New Zealander.
Mitch Evans took the advantage in the first part of the lap, but Hughes began to catch the Jaguar in the second part. Overall, it wasn’t enough for Hughes and Evans went through to the final with a 1:08.664, the fastest lap of the entire weekend, the lap record and the fastest average speed.
Nato’s Andretti and the Envision Racing of Frijns headed out on track, Nato leading the duo in his Andretti. Frijns had a massive snap of oversteer in the first few corners, putting him 0.545 behind the Andretti driver. Robin Frijns tried to make up the time, Norman Nato in the Andretti going through to the finals.
Finals
Norman Nato lead the finals in his Andretti, Mitch Evans in the Jaguar heading to the track second. Evans Jaguar was slightly tentative into turn 1 with Nato going faster in the first sector round Portland. Evans recovered in the middle sector.
Nato did a 1:09.016, but Mitch Evans managed a 1:08.820 getting pole round Portland. Gaining the three points for pole is significant for Evans championship fight.
Norman Nato will start 12th due to his grid penalty from Shanghai.
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