Nissan’s Norman Nato led the second and final practice session before qualifying for the inaugural ABB Formula E World Championship race at Portland International Raceway. The Frenchman set a time of 1m09.101s, fractionally slower than the top lap set by FP1 pace-setter Rene Rast — driving for customer Nissan powertrain team NEOM McLaren — in the opening session on the Oregon road course.
Maserati MSG Racing’s Maximilian Guenther finished FP2 in second, the young German driver aiming to replicate his victory last time out in Jakarta. Jaguar TCS Racing’s Sam Bird had a late start to the session, but ended up third when the checkered flag was waved.
Rast would eventfully finish the 30-minute session in fourth, with the DS Penske of Jean-Eric Vergne rounding up the top five.
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Vergne had an unusual off at Turn 1 during the session, as he bailed on the corner and instead decided to venture down the escape road. He later did the same, kicking up dust when finding the limits of the two-mile course. The two-time champ also had an off-track moment in first practice yesterday evening when he missed the corner at Turn 11. He wasn’t alone — the NIO 333 of Dan Ticktum had an identical incident and went on the grass, with Robin Frijns also taking to the grass in his ABT CUPRA.
Taking to the grass 👀@JeanEricVergne goes off-track at turn 11 in FP2. A section a few drivers are struggling to find their limits with 🤔@southwire #PortlandEPrix pic.twitter.com/yZmMvrDpfP
— ABB FIA Formula E World Championship (@FIAFormulaE) June 24, 2023
Championship contender Jake Dennis (Avalanche Andretti) had to take evasive action to avoid hitting the NIO of Sergio Sette Camara who sat on the racing line at Turn 11 with a few minutes left to go. He was given a black and white flag for impeding Dennis.
At the end of the session, three of the championship contenders sat in the bottom four with Dennis in 19th, Envision Racing’s Nick Cassidy in 20th and Jaguar’s Mitch Evans in 21st out of 22 drivers.
UP NEXT: Qualifying, 3:40pm ET
