Formula E in Portland: Vergne secures record pole position on Sunday
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Tobias Wirtz
![Jean-Eric-Vergne-Pole-Position-Portland Jean-Eric-Vergne-Pole-Position-Portland](files/e-formel/uploads/_NEWS/2024/06%20Juni/Jean-Eric-Vergne-Pole-Position-Portland.jpg)
Joao Filipe / DPPI (via Hankook)
Jean-Eric has secured pole position for Sunday's race at the Portland E-Prix. The DS Penske driver defeated Antonio Felix da Costa in the final race and secured three points. Sam Bird and Robin Frijns will start the race from the second row of the grid. Title contender Mitch Evans, on the other hand, weakened and will only start from 11th place.
Group A: Frijns dominant, Evans fails
All four jaguar powered cars were in the first group. The works team had dominated the 3rd free practice session in the morning. But Robin Frijns won the first run, ahead of Jean-Eric Vergne, Sebastien Buemi and Nick Cassidy. Jake Hughes in the McLaren went off the track in the fast chicane at turn 10/11 and had to drive through the grass.
The two Jaguar drivers stayed on the track and finished in the top four, while all the other drivers came into the pits to change tyres. Then the lap times tumbled: Jehan Daruvala and Jake Hughes moved into the top four, but Jean-Eric Vergne fought back to set the second-fastest time. The pole-sitter from the previous day was the one to suffer: Mitch Evans was only sixth and retired. Frijns advanced to the quarter-finals as the winner of the group, while Vergne, Cassidy and Hughes also progressed. Max Günther, on the other hand, only finished eleventh.
Evans OUT of Qualifying ❌@RFrijns tops Group A and progresses to the Duels alongside Vergne, Cassidy and Hughes. A shock upset for @JaguarRacing though, with Evans only 6th in the group.@Hankook_Sport #PortlandEPrix pic.twitter.com/Gi6n36UUHQ
- Formula E (@FIAFormulaE) June 30, 2024
Group B: Porsche continue with both cars, Dennis with mistake
In Group B, the four Porsche-powered cars raced. Antonio Felix da Costa made a mistake on his first fast lap in the first corner and drove hard over the curbs. Norman Nato and Caio Collet went off the track at turn 10. Stoffel Vandoorne set the fastest time on the first run ahead of Jake Dennis and Pascal Wehrlein. Nobody in this group tried to get through without a tyre change.
Two off! ?
- Formula E (@FIAFormulaE) June 30, 2024
Nato and Collet both run wide at Turn 11.@Hankook_Sport #PortlandEPrix pic.twitter.com/kjn31u0SRf
Antonio Felix da Costa then moved into the lead, and then events came thick and fast: Jake Dennis went off the track, Sam Bird and Nyck de Vries pushed behind Felix da Costa. Wehrlein set the fourth-best lap time on his final lap, while Stoffel Vandoorne retired.
Dennis spins! ??
- Formula E (@FIAFormulaE) June 30, 2024
The @AndrettiFE driver brings out a brief yellow flag at the end of the Group B Qualifying.@Hankook_Sport #PortlandEPrix pic.twitter.com/mohd25Ctcf
Quarter-final
QF1: Vergne vs Cassidy
In the re-run of the Misano quarter-final, which Vergne won back then, Cassidy initially looked the quicker. However, the New Zealander lost three tenths of a second in the second sector, allowing Vergne to advance to the semi-finals.
Quarter-Final 1: Cassidy ? Vergne@JeanEricVergne knocks out Championship leader Cassidy to progress to the Semi-Finals! @Hankook_Sport #PortlandEPrix pic.twitter.com/Z2lBOKWB4J
— Formula E (@FIAFormulaE) June 30, 2024
QF2: Hughes vs. Frijns
In the second quarter-final, Frijns was significantly faster in the first sector and then fuelled his lead for a long time. In the end, however, it was very close, with Frijns retaining a lead of 14 thousandths of a second.
Quarter-Final 2: Hughes ? Frijns@RFrijns is through by 0.014s!@Hankook_Sport #PortlandEPrix pic.twitter.com/XOWivqFrmo
— Formula E (@FIAFormulaE) June 30, 2024
QF3: de Vries vs. Bird
In the duel between the two drivers involved in the accident in Shanghai, Bird was clearly the faster driver: the McLaren driver could even afford to make a mistake in the centre sector, but was still clearly ahead in the end.
Quarter Final 3: de Vries ? Bird@sambirdofficial wins his first Duel of Season 10 and books a spot in the Semi-Finals! @Hankook_Sport #PortlandEPrix pic.twitter.com/G72kJEtusa
- Formula E (@FIAFormulaE) June 30, 2024
QF4: Wehrlein vs. Felix da Costa
In the internal Porsche duel, Felix da Costa got off to a much better start to his lap and was already more than three tenths of a second ahead after the first sector. Both drivers were on an equal footing for the rest of the lap, but the Portuguese driver still took a big lead into the next lap. Wehrlein, on the other hand, did not put in a good lap, only Nyck de Vries was slower in the quarter-final. The world championship runner-up will therefore start from 7th on the grid.
Quarter-Final 4: Wehrlein ? da Costa
- Formula E (@FIAFormulaE) June 30, 2024
In the battle of the @PorscheFormulaE drivers it is @afelixdacosta who puts in the faster lap to progress to the Semi-Finals! @Hankook_Sport #PortlandEPrix pic.twitter.com/vOKulFSPpA
Semi-final
SF1: Vergne vs Frijns
The lead swapped back and forth in the first semi-final: Frijns started his lap slightly faster, but Vergne then took the lead in the second sector and finished the lap more than 0.2 seconds ahead of the Envision driver. Vergne made it to the final for the fifth time this season.
Semi-final 1: Vergne ? Frijns@JeanEricVergne puts together a tidy lap to secure a place in the Final! @Hankook_Sport #PortlandEPrix pic.twitter.com/deqKlCvuVp
- Formula E (@FIAFormulaE) June 30, 2024
SF2: Bird vs da Costa
Antonio Felix da Costa went into the duel as the favourite and put in a clean lap: with a lap time of 1:08.856 minutes, he gave Bird no chance. However, the Briton was faster than Robin Frijns and secured third place on the grid. This was Felix da Costa's first appearance in the final since Sao Paulo 2023.
Semi-Final 2: Bird ? da Costa
- Formula E (@FIAFormulaE) June 30, 2024
It is da Costa who will meet Vergne in the battle for @juliusbaer pole position!@Hankook_Sport #PortlandEPrix pic.twitter.com/9kRwhqDGbX
Final: Vergne vs Felix da Costa
Vergne led the way in the final duel. The DS Penske driver drove a strong first sector, but Felix da Costa was just a few thousandths of a second behind. Both drivers were completely on an equal footing, with only 0.025 seconds separating them in Vergne's favour in the end. The Frenchman thus achieved his 17th pole position in Formula E, making him the sole record holder in the electric racing series.
A TIGHT battle for Pole ?@JeanEricVergne pips da Costa to the post by just 0.025s! @Hankook_Sport #PortlandEPrix pic.twitter.com/ogiCIeb5mz
— Formula E (@FIAFormulaE) June 30, 2024
The 14th race of the 2024 Formula E World Championship season will take place late on Sunday evening at 11pm (CEST).
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