Yahoo Autos Porsche stays on top with da Costa in second Portland E-Prix practice
Antonio Felix da Costa kept Porsche powertrains on top in second practice for the Portland E-Prix, going quickest ahead of Andretti’s Norman Nato.
The TAG Heuer Porsche driver’s best time of 1m08.787s was 0.126s quicker than Porsche-powered Nato, with championship leader Nick Cassidy third for Jaguar JCS Racing, a further 0.103s back.
Jake Dennis was fourth in the second Andretti entry, while Caio Collet gave Nissan something to smile about by going fifth fastest.
Already missing Oliver Rowland through illness, the team’s other driver Sacha Fenestraz had his session brought to a premature end after losing control on the entrance to Turn 10, then spinning across the grass at Turn 11 before hitting the wall just nine minutes into the session. He was able to make it back to the pits, albeit with suspension, steering, and bodywork damage.
One the session resumed, just two minutes later Cassidy went off in the same place, but avoided any contact with the barriers and continued.
ERT’s Dan Ticktum finished behind rookie Collet in sixth, ahead of the Envision Racing pair of Sebastien Buemi and Robin Frijns, both of whom spent time at the top of the timesheets early in the session.
Porsche’s Pascal Wehrlein and NEOM McLaren’s Sam Bird rounded out the top 10, ahead of Nico Mueller Abt Cupra), Mitch Evans (Jaguar), Sergio Sette Camara ERT), with Mahindra’s Edorardo Mortara 14th, and Lucas di Grassi 15th in the second Abt Cupra. Jake Hughes was 16th in the other McLaren, with Nyck de Vries — who sustained front wing damage after a brush with a wall towards the end of the session — slipping down the other to 17th after a strong Friday practice performance.
The four Stellantis cars were next, with Maserati MSG’s Maximilian Guenther 18th, DS Penske’s Stoffel Vandoorne 19th, and their respective teammates Jehan Daruvala and Jean-Eric Verge 20th and 21st. Fenestraz was classified 20th after his early shunt.
Ahead of the session DS Penske was hit with a €5000 Euro fine after it was judged that someone on a guest pass had been working for the team and taking tire usage notes, in what the FIA deemed “a clear infringement by exceeding the number of working passes.”
