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reportVergne broke the record for most Formula E poles after winning this Final Duel, having previously been tied with Envision Racing’s Sebastien Buemi on 16. PENSKE have previously taken pole in Portland in IndyCar but not Formula E, and for Vergne himself hasn’t taken three poles in a season since winning the championship in Season 4!
Lots of big players are dotted around the grid ahead of Round 14, with a very mixed qualifying session. Mitch Evans wasn’t able to make the Duels and will start in 11th, despite being on pole position just under 24 hours ago. TAG Heuer Porsche’s Pascal Wehrlein will line up in seventh with championship leader Nick Cassidy in sixth for the race in a matter of hours.
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Final
It was a close battle between these two former teammates, but it was Jean-Eric Vergne who emerged just ahead of Antonio Felix da Costa at the last battle. JEV nailed the first corner and from there made him the guy to beat despite DAC’s best attempts.
Semi Final
First up was Vergne versus Frijns. Vergne is in the semi-finals for the seventh time this year and is tied with teammate Vandoorne for the most appearances in the final this year with four each. However, he made that five after beating Frijns to the front row of the grid.
Then it was the turn of Bird and Da Costa. Bird’s win in the Quarter Finals today was his first Duel win in 2024, but he wasn't able to reach the final as Da Costa was in a league of his own and has guaranteed himself a start up ahead.
Quarter Final
First up was Nick Cassidy and Jean-Eric Vergne, with Cassidy hoping to comeback from a shocking mistake when he lost the win in yesterday’s race. Despite his best efforts, it was two-time champ JEV who sailed through to the semis.
Frijns took on Jake Hughes in the next round, but the NEOM McLaren driver had an issue in the final moments of the session with a rogue display appearing on his steering wheel and diverting his attention. The car looked rapid though, and will be a promising sign of things to come.
There was reason to celebrate in the McLaren garage though, as Bird was able to beat Nyck de Vries in the next Duel battle. It was the second time that the Mahindra driver was in the Duels this season, after doing the same in Shanghai.
Last up it was a Porsche vs Porsche fight. Only one could emerge on top and it was Round 13 winner Da Costa. He’s on a run of results at the moment, with three wins in four races. Could he make it three consecutive wins today?
Group A
As drivers pushed themselves to their limits, they were exploring all areas of the track. Several individuals found themselves in the grass or escape roads, including the NEOM McLaren of Jake Hughes and ABT CUPRA’s Nico Mueller.
Frijns, who is celebrating his 100th race start today, topped his group. The Dutchman is fresh from his second place yesterday, and is looking really at home on this circuit. Jean-Eric Vergne finished in second just 0.012s behind, with Cassidy and Hughes making up the rest of the top four.
The big story of the group was our pole sitter from yesterday, Mitch Evans, failing to make it through and forced to settle for sixth.
Group B
The drama continued in the second group, as reigning World Champion Jake Dennis had a spin in the final moments of his group. After losing the rear of his Andretti, the champ was unable to progress into the next stage of qualifying and will have to work hard during the race to help them get a piece of silverware at their home race. The rare mistake from Dennis also meant lots of drivers were forced to slow on their last laps as a result of the yellow flag.
Da Costa was able to continue his run of good results, topping the session with NEOM McLaren’s Sam Bird just 0.059s behind. Mahindra Racing’s Nyck de Vries delivered a stunning lap to push him up into third and championship contender Pascal Wehrlein went into fourth and into the Duels.