Formula E | Jeddah E-Prix | Qualifying 2 | Mortara takes second pole position of the weekend - Motorsport

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After Pascal Wehrlein won race 1 under the lights from Jeddah, the stage is set for the second qualifying for the first double-header weekend of the 12th season of Formula E. Following the third and last practice session of the Jeddah E-Prix that was topped by Jake Dennis, the drivers were ready to find out who will lead the grid into the second race of the weekend.

Group A

The first group headed out on track with 10 minutes on the clock, facing some more winds than the day before. In the first qualifying session of the Jeddah E-Prix, most of the drivers did multiple built up laps and then a push lap, followed by a cool down lap. Only the winner of Race 1 in Jeddah did an early push lap and managed to get one more out of his Porsche than the rest of the grid. And Wehrlein again is the first driver to push for a fast lap in this qualifying session of the Formula E Jeddah E-Prix, followed by Taylor Barnard and Dan Ticktum. With Ticktum setting the fastest lap of this session so far, putting himself on top of the group with 5 minutes left on the clock.

Oliver Rowland, aborted his lap after being half a second faster in sector one that Ticktum. Meanwhile, his teammate Norman Nato put himself up into the Duel position. As the times ran out, the only driver to beat the time of Ticktum is yesterday’s pole sitter Edoardo Mortara, while Mitch Evans claimed the last place of the Duel positions. As the time runs out, the drivers tried to set a last fast lap to secure their position in the Duels, and the result of Qualifying 2 of the Formula E Jeddah E-Prix is different from the assumed result of the whole session. With Maximilian Günther, Rowland and Jean Eric Vergne all beating Ticktum, Wehrlein and Evans, the drivers that were in the top four for almost the whole session. Only Mortara could keep his place in the Duels.

Group B

The second Group went out for their 10 minutes to try and gain a position in the Duels of the Qualifying of the Formula E Jeddah E-Prix. With the drivers getting ready for their first push lap of this session, it is important to notice that most of the contenders in group A improved with the last push, changing the result completely. Felipe Drugovich and Nico Müller were the first drivers to go for a fast lap, as Jake Dennis complained about not having grip in his tires, making it the second day with this problem. With the first half of this session gone, Müller, Drugovich, Dennis and Nick Cassidy were the drivers in the position to go through to the Duels of the second Qualifying at the Formula E Jeddah E-Prix.

As the time started to run out, Antonio Felix Da Costa, Sébastien Buemi and Zane Maloney improved their lap time, leaving only Dennis as the last one of the original top four of this session. Which seemed surprising as Maloney had to retire his car yesterday after contact with Pepe Martí during the starting laps of race 1. With the last push of this session there were multiple improvements on the sheet as Cassidy and Dennis improve their lap putting themselves into the Duels, while Müller couldn’t improve meaning both Porsche cars didn’t make it into the Duels. Joining Dennis and Cassidy in the Duels were Da Costa and Buemi.

Duels

Rowland and Günther opened the duels, with the Nissan driver heading out first. Despite a small early advantage for Günther in sector one of the 3km circuit, Rowland stayed ahead and secured his first duel win of Season 12 to reach the semi-finals.

Next up, Vergne led Mortara onto track, but the Mahindra driver gained the upper hand in the opening sector. Mortara pulled clear to win by nearly half a second, advancing comfortably to the semis.

Buemi faced Dennis in the third duel. After tyre concerns in the group stage, Dennis looked disadvantaged early on, but capitalised when Buemi ran wide over the final corner kerbs. The Brit moved through to the semi-finals of the Jeddah E-Prix qualifying.

The final quarter-final saw Cassidy against Da Costa. It was tight from the start, with Da Costa holding a slim edge before Cassidy fought back. However, a mistake over the kerbs in the final sector cost Cassidy momentum, ending his chances of progressing.

Mortara and Rowland lined up for the first semi-final of the day with Rowland having a slight advantage to Mortara, though the Swiss caught up giving him the advantage for this duel, as Mortara went through to the Finals, his second front-row start in Jeddah.

The second semi-final decided who will join Mortara in the final, as Dennis and Da Costa went head-to-head. Dennis had a slight advantage as Da Costa went a bit wide in the second sector, giving the Brit a larger advantage. As, Dennis went through to the finals, setting the fastest lap of the weekend so far.

The fight for pole

The fight for pole went down between Dennis and Mortara as they both lined up to get their second pole position start of the season. While Dennis started from pole in Brazil, he did not set the fastest time during the qualifying.

Mortara started the final Duel of the second Qualifying of the Formula E Jeddah E-Prix, Dennis gained a slight advantage with only two hundredths of a second. Though Mortara caught up again, he made a mistake in the last sector as Dennis went over the line being three hundredths of a second behind Mortara’s time. Giving Mortara his second pole position of season 12, and his second pole position this weekend.