The first of two races in Portland (USA) saw DS Automobiles take its 51st podium thanks to Jean-Eric Vergne’s third place and Stoffel Vandoorne’s ninth place.
On the permanent US circuit, the first free practice sessions took place late on Friday afternoon, with the track relatively dirty, despite having been partially used by dragsters a few days earlier.
After 30 minutes of practice, the top 20 drivers (out of 22) were within one second of each other. In the second practice on Saturday, the red flags came out after just 10 minutes when one of the Nissans went off the track, while the two Penske DSs were in the top 10. Many cars bounced off the curbs and ended up on the grass, as the grip was quite low.
For this two-race weekend, the cool morning weather gradually gave way to milder temperatures, and by the time of qualifying the mercury was in the 20s.
In the first group, just as he was setting his best lap, Vergne was hampered at the last corner by a slowing car and had to run wide on the grass – a maneuver which cost him a place in the quarter-finals and which it brought back some bad memories.
Jean-Eric Vergne, DS Penske, DS E-Tense FE23
Photo by: DPPI
“Last year, to avoid an accident, I already had to go into the grass, which caused the cooling ducts to clog and the engine to overheat,” the Frenchman said. “I hope that this year we will not be too exposed to this type of incident, even if it has just happened again.”
Professor Vergne’s lesson
Starting from 15th and 17th, Vergne and Vandoorne knew they would have to stay in the pack for a while, then exit at the right time to try and score points. Battery management is extremely difficult in Formula E, especially at the Portland circuit, where the 12 corners over the 3.170km course make it one of the most complex tracks around.
Here it is not possible to lead the race for too long, given the high energy consumption in the lead. It’s a waiting game, which forces team strategists to continually study battery levels. A field in which DS Penske drivers and their race engineers excel and which can lead to a favorable result.
Taking the lead with 10 laps to go, Vergne could have attempted to take his DS E-TENSE FE23 all the way to the finish, but he preferred to take it easy and drop back a few positions. On the screens, the “virtual engineer” of Formula E effectively confirmed that the French champion was right, indicating that only the last seven laps would not require special energy management. In other words, only then could the drivers fully exploit the capabilities of their cars.
But increasing the pace also increases the level of risk… this is how Nick Cassidy, until then the leader, ended up in the grass at the wheel of his Jaguar. His teammate Mitch Evans took the lead and crossed the finish line ahead of everyone, but was later given a five-second penalty for contact with Jake Hughes (McLaren).
Victory went to the Porsche of Antonio Felix Da Costa, ahead of the Jaguar-powered Envision of Robin Frijns.
Vergne, who started 15th, drove an exemplary race and reached the podium for the 36th time in his Formula E career. It was also the French manufacturer’s 51st podium in the electric category.
Stoffel Vandoorne finished ninth, once again allowing DS Penske to place both cars in the points. The second round in Portland, which is also the 14th race of the season, will take place tonight at 23:00 Italian time (14:00 local time).
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