Formula E: Vergne fastest in final Misano Practice
DS Penske driver Jean-Eric Vergne topped both Formula E practice sessions ahead of the inaugural Misano E-Prix.
The two-time Formula E champion went quicker than his time yesterday, setting a benchmark of 1m17.482s.
NEOM McLaren’s Jake Hughes finished just 0.020s behind Vergne to claim second, with Sebastien Buemi (Envision Racing) in third. Jaguar TCS Racing’s Nick Cassidy finished in fourth but ended his session in the barrier, with Vergne’s teammate Stoffel Vandoorne in fifth.
The session was impacted by a red flag for the ERT of Sergio Sette Camara who came to a stop on track, and ended with a big incident for championship contender Nick Cassidy of Jaguar TCS Racing. Cassidy, who has been tagged as a favorite this weekend, was forced to take avoiding action on the NEOM McLaren of Sam Bird, who is under investigation for impeding.
Cassidy ran off the track, through a gravel trap and ended his session in a tire barrier to avoid an incident. He currently sits second in the World Championship standings, and this will be a big blow for the Jaguar team ahead of qualifying which is shortly.
Track limits have been a popular topic of discussion this weekend, with 24 lap times being deleted over yesterday’s first free practice session and additional cameras added overnight to monitor it. One driver who appears to be finding it tough is Reigning World Champion Jake Dennis. The Andretti driver had eight track limit violations yesterday, and things didn’t look to be better this morning.
“It’s a disaster,” Dennis said on team radio during the session. “I just lock up T5, lose the rear on entry into T6 and then front locking at the apex of T7. At T8, I just didn’t slow down at all. Then T12, I just can’t brake late.” The Brit finished the session in eighth.
As it happened
It was an 8AM start for the teams locally, as the sun was rising over the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli. In the final Free Practice session before Round 6, all drivers were desperate to get some laps locked in for the championship’s first visit to the permanent circuit.
It had been a long night for the Mahindra Racing squad, as the team opted to use their free curfew pass to try and sort a technical issue on the car of Edoardo Mortara. The problem, which made itself clear after Jordan King got behind the wheel for Rookie Free Practice, meant the team was up until 1am this morning to fix the troubles. It paid off though, as the home hero Mortara – who is half Italian – was able to get out onto the track as the session began.
There was an early yellow flag as ERT’s Sergio Sette Camara came to a stop at Turn 9. Despite best efforts to get things going again, it wasn’t meant to be and Race Control issued a red flag in order to tow him back to the garage. It’s not an ideal start to the day for Sette Camara, who only got two laps on the board but managed to finish 10th in FP1 yesterday. An additional five minutes was added to the final time, to make up for the red flag.
The Jaguar TCS Racing powertrains should be strong here in Misano, and Robin Frijns spent a chunk of the session at the top. The Dutchman holds a lap record here from his time in DTM, so he knows how to put down a fast time. However, it was the STELLANTIS powertrain of Jean-Eric Vergne who topped the timesheets for a second consecutive session.
There was big drama in the final moments as the Jaguar of Nick Cassidy ended up in the gravel and hitting the barrier after taking avoiding action. The man second in the World Championship standings was coming round the final set of corners when he encountered several cars on a slower lap, and was forced to go on the grass. As a result, he shot through the gravel traps in place and went front-nose-first into a tire barrier.
No sooner had the session finished, the FIA confirmed that both Cassidy and the NEOM McLaren of Sam Bird were under investigation for impeding. It’s not yet known how this will impact Cassidy for qualifying in just a matter of hours.