Formula E in Misano: Jean-Eric Vergne also wins 2nd free practice, Nick Cassidy crashes
Tobias Wirtz
Jean-Eric Vergne won the rehearsal for qualifying on Saturday morning. The DS Penske driver lapped the circuit in 1:17.482 minutes, improving his track record from the previous day. However, the headlines were dominated by a heavy crash involving Nick Cassidy in the closing minutes. There were technical problems with Sergio Sette Camara's ERT, which came to a halt on the track and caused the session to be interrupted.
In contrast to the first free practice session, all 22 drivers went straight out onto the track in slightly foggy conditions - Edo Mortara had not been able to drive yesterday due to a brake problem. The first fastest time came from Robin Frijns, but the Dutchman was still 15 seconds off the fastest lap from Friday afternoon.
Jake Dennis had a moment in the chicane after a few minutes, where many drivers had to take shortcuts through the gravel the day before, but stayed on the track. Shortly afterwards, there were yellow flags: Sergio Sette Camara had to park his car at the side of the track with a technical defect. He was stuck here for several minutes.
Not the easiest of sessions for reigning champion @JakeDennis19 ❌
- Formula E (@FIAFormulaE) April 13, 2024
The @AndrettiFE driver has been struggling to put a neat lap together.#MisanoEPrix pic.twitter.com/EWsWf46SWB
Red flag after defect at Sette Camara
After ten minutes, Sebastien Buemi led ahead of Sam Bird, Jake Hughes, Mitch Evans and Jean-Eric Vergne. World champion Jake Dennis left the track again, this time in turn 1, and as Sette Camara was unable to get his ERT running again, race control interrupted the session shortly afterwards with a red flag. Sette Camara was towed back to the pit lane.
? RED FLAG ?
- Formula E (@FIAFormulaE) April 13, 2024
The drivers return to their garages as @sergiosettecama's car is recovered from track.#MisanoEPrix pic.twitter.com/gLb28aIU8d
After an interruption of around eight minutes, the session was reopened. Race control decided to extend the session by five minutes. All the remaining drivers took to the track and tried to improve their best time. Dan Ticktum braked in the chicane and had to cut in through the gravel.
Ten minutes before the end of the session, Jean-Eric Vergne led the standings, with Sebastien Buemi in second ahead of Stoffel Vandoorne. All the drivers came back into the pits to have their tyres changed. Meanwhile, race control cancelled Jean-Eric Vergne's best time, which left him in 19th place.
Scary moment shortly before the end: Cassidy crashes
In the final minutes, all the drivers attacked again: Oliver Rowland overdid it in turn 1 and took off with a wild drift into the run-off area. Nick Cassidy fared even worse: The Jaguar driver ran into several drivers on the approach to the final corner. McLaren driver Sam Bird in particular was driving slowly on the racing line. Cassidy had to swerve to the right onto the grass and hit the track barrier hard.
The moment @NickCassidy_ made contact with the wall at the end of FP2 ?
— Formula E (@FIAFormulaE) April 13, 2024
It will be a tight turnaround for the @JaguarRacing team to have the car ready in time for today's Qualifying session.#MisanoEPrix pic.twitter.com/DH1fc5A6aP
As the yellow flags were waved, there were no more changes to the standings: Vergne secured his second fastest time of the weekend ahead of Hughes and Buemi, while Cassidy finished fourth despite his accident. Qualifying for the Misano E-Prix will take place at 10:20 a.m.
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