Mitch Evans of Jaguar TCS Racing achieved the top position in qualifying for Race 1 of the Portland E-Prix double-header. In a thrilling head-to-head battle, Evans emerged victorious over Norman Nato of Andretti on Saturday. Despite a challenging start in his group, Evans consistently displayed impressive speed throughout the duels. His exceptional lap time of 1:08.820 in the final secured him pole position for Race 1. Nato, who initially qualified second with a lap time of 1:09.016s, will now start from 12th due to a 10-place grid penalty.
Securing the third spot on the grid is Jake Hughes of McLaren, who will now start on the front row due to Nato’s penalty. Robin Frijns, after setting the fourth fastest time in the Semi-Finals, will start from third. Meanwhile, Porsches Antonio Felix Da Costa is set to begin Race 1 from fourth.
ERT’s Dan Ticktum and Mahindra’s Edoardo Mortara will form the third row, with ABT’s Nico Müller and Porsche’s Pascal Wehrlein starting on Row 4. However, Wehrlein was unable to advance from his group.
Envision’s Sebastien Buemei will line up in ninth place, followed by Jake Dennis of Andretti securing the 10th spot on the grid for Race 1.
For Jaguar, it was a mixed outcome as their points leader, Nick Cassidy, failed to progress from his group. Consequently, he will start Saturday’s Race 1 from 11th on the grid.
Mitch Evans’ achievement in securing the JuliusBaer Pole Position not only adds three crucial points to Jaguar Racing’s total, but also strengthens their pursuit of the Teams’ Championship. This could have a significant impact on the competition.
GROUPS:
The leader of the Championship, Nick Cassidy, participated in Group A and he needed to be among the four drivers advancing to the duels in order to maintain his chances of winning the title. The same can be said for his teammate Mitch Evans from Jaguar, but his efforts were compromised when he ran wide onto the grass during the long right-hander. Despite this setback, Evans managed to temporarily secure the first position in Group A, recovering well from his mistake. However, Cassidy was unable to advance and suffered a major setback.
Hughes emerged as the fastest driver [1:09.775], followed by Evans [1:09.777], Sette Camara [1:09.849], and Di Grassi [1:09.942], with Cassidy slipping down to eighth place. Alongside the championship leader, other notable drivers such as Jean-Eric Vergne from DS Penske and Max Günther from Maserati also failed to advance. Sette Camara’s advancement was short-lived as his laps were deleted, leading to Mortara taking his place.
Cassidy received some relief as his closest rival in the title race, Wehrlein from Porsche, also failed to advance in Group B. Ticktum from ERT advanced to the duels for the first time in Season 10 as the fastest driver [1:09.766s], followed by Da Costa [1:09.779], Frijns [1:09.849], and Nato [1:09.878]. Wehrlein missed out by a fraction of a second, as the entire Group B was covered by just over four tenths of a second.
Wehrlein was joined by Jake Dennis in Group B elimination. Rookie Caio Collet impressively outperformed his Nissan teammate Sacha Fenestraz on his debut, filling in for the ill Oliver Rowland.
DUELS:
The first Quarter-Final duel featured Di Grassi from ABT against Evans from Jaguar, and the fan predictor vote heavily favored Evans with a staggering 95%. Evans lived up to the expectations and outperformed Di Grassi by 0.383 seconds.
Next, Mortara faced Hughes. The McLaren driver, who was the fastest in Group A, proved his dominance by defeating Mortara, who accepted defeat by running off the road at Turn 11.
In the third Quarter-Final, Frijns went up against Da Costa, with the Envision driver participating in his first duel since Diriyah, Saudi Arabia. Frijns had no trouble in the Quarter-Final, as Da Costa ran wide in the final sector, granting Frijns a place in the Semi-Finals.
The fourth and final Quarter-Final featured Nato against Ticktum, the fastest driver from Group B. Nato had the upper hand, posting a lap time that was 0.083 seconds faster than the ERT driver, securing his advancement.
SEMI-FINALS:
The first Semi-Final matched Evans against Hughes in a contest between Jaguar and Nissan powertrains. However, Hughes was no match for Evans, as the Jaguar driver outperformed his McLaren competitor by 0.261 seconds, securing his place in the final.
The battle to determine who would face Evans in the Final took place between Nato and Frijns. Frijns encountered a big oversteer moment at the opening chicane, putting him at a disadvantage from the start. He was unable to recover, allowing Nato to advance to the Final.
FINAL:
Nato and Evans secured themselves front-row slots, but the Final would determine the pole position for Saturday’s Race 1 in Portland. Although Evans was 0.117 seconds behind in Sector 1, he managed to turn things around and cross the Start/Finish line with an advantage of 0.196 seconds, earning his second pole position of the year and collecting three points in the championship.