Sao Paulo E-Prix: Dennis sets the practice pace for season-opener

Jake Dennis finished fastest in the second practice session ahead of Formula E’s season-opener in Sao Paulo this weekend.

The Briton posted a 1m09.617s in the final moments around the 1.82-mile street circuit aboard the new Gen3 Evo car which left him 0.038s clear of Antonio Felix da Costa.

Maximilian Guenther became the first driver to dip below the 1m11s barrier during Saturday morning’s 40-minute session, with all practice sessions increased by 10 minutes this season.

The German posted a 1m10.355s using the 350kW Attack Mode, which for the new Gen3 Evo era will give drivers all-wheel-drive and significantly increases performance by approximately 2.4 seconds per lap.

The DS Penske driver’s time, set in the opening 15 minutes, was already over a second quicker than the fastest outright time set at the Sao Paulo street circuit in the previous two visits to the venue.

Guenther’s time remained unchallenged approaching the halfway point of proceedings until David Beckmann surged to the top spot with a 1m10.249s for Cupra Kiro.

This time was eclipsed by reigning champion Pascal Wehrlein, who posted a 1m09.884s, but which only lasted as the benchmark for mere moments as Porsche team-mate da Costa went 0.229s faster.

Pascal Wehrlein, TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team

Photo by: Andreas Beil

The Portuguese drivers best stayed at the top until the end the final moments of the session when Dennis posted his 1m09.617s, with Oliver Rowland third and less than a tenth behind.

Wehrlein finished fourth ahead of Mitch Evans, the Jaguar driver posting the fastest first sector time before hitting traffic on his final effort that left him just over three tenths in arrears.

Rowland topped the opening session on Friday afternoon, posting a 1m10.162s as he led a Nissan 1-2 from Norman Nato, who was a further 0.080s behind.

Dennis finished third for Andretti but team-mate Nico Muller endured a difficult FP1 with his new team after making contact with the wall during the opening phase.

The Swiss driver finished last in the session after suffering a left-rear puncture that caused suspension damage and meant Muller needed to take his one joker tyre for the season.

Mahindra’s Edoardo Mortara finished fourth from McLaren’s Taylor Barnard, with last year’s championship runner-up Evans sixth, but the Kiwi’s Jaguar had to be recovered back to the pits after coming to a stop on track.

Da Costa and Wehrlein finished eighth and ninth, while title protagonist last season Nick Cassidy completed the top 10 for Jaguar, less than seven tenths off the top spot but having struggled for pace in both practice sessions.

Sao Paulo E-Prix Practice 2 result


Cla	Driver	#	Laps	Time	Interval	km/h
1	J. Dennis Andretti Formula E	27	19	1'09.617		153.066
2	A. Felix da Costa Porsche Team	13	18	+0.038 1'09.655	0.038	152.982
3	O. Rowland Nissan e.Dams	23	16	+0.091 1'09.708	0.053	152.866
4	P. Wehrlein Porsche Team	1	18	+0.159 1'09.776	0.068	152.717
5	M. Evans Jaguar Racing	9	16	+0.314 1'09.931	0.155	152.378
6	R. Frijns Envision Racing	4	19	+0.372 1'09.989	0.058	152.252
7	S. Buemi Envision Racing	16	20	+0.405 1'10.022	0.033	152.180
8	N. Müller Andretti Formula E	51	18	+0.432 1'10.049	0.027	152.122
9	M. Gunther DS Penske	7	20	+0.499 1'10.116	0.067	151.976
10	D. Ticktum Kiro Race Co	33	20	+0.594 1'10.211	0.095	151.771
11	S. Vandoorne Maserati Racing	2	18	+0.614 1'10.231	0.020	151.727
12	J. Vergne DS Penske	25	21	+0.627 1'10.244	0.013	151.699
13	D. Beckmann Kiro Race Co	3	17	+0.632 1'10.249	0.005	151.688
14	N. de Vries Mahindra Racing	21	17	+0.653 1'10.270	0.021	151.643
15	E. Mortara Mahindra Racing	48	18	+0.659 1'10.276	0.006	151.630
16	N. Cassidy Jaguar Racing	37	20	+0.722 1'10.339	0.063	151.494
17	S. Bird McLaren	8	18	+0.858 1'10.475	0.136	151.202
18	T. Barnard McLaren	5	21	+1.101 1'10.718	0.243	150.682
19	J. Hughes Maserati Racing	55	19	+1.424 1'11.041	0.323	149.997
20	Z. Maloney LOLA YAMAHA ABT FORMULA E TEAM	22	19	+1.436 1'11.053	0.012	149.972
21	N. Nato Nissan e.Dams	17	12	+2.424 1'12.041	0.988	147.915
22	L. di Grassi LOLA YAMAHA ABT FORMULA E TEAM	11	18	+2.785 1'12.402	0.361	147.178
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