Pascal Wehrlein heads to the inaugural Portland E-Prix this weekend having regained the lead of the 2022/23 ABB FIA Components E World Championship in Jakarta, the place he returned to successful methods.
After shedding the lead for the primary time in 4 months in Monaco, Wehrlein entered the Jakarta double-header with a transparent purpose, to get his championship lead again. With victory within the opening race in Jakarta and a sixth-place end within the second, that’s precisely what he did. His win marked his first time on the rostrum for the reason that finish of January in Diriyah, highlighting how lengthy it’d been since he’d featured amongst the highest three.
Reflecting on Jakarta forward of this weekend on the West Coast, Wehrlein was fast to level out that himself and the TAG Heuer Porsche Components E Staff are “nonetheless a drive to be reckoned with”.
“Jakarta was a mega weekend for us with my win within the first race and a superb harvest of factors within the second occasion. This meant we regained the lead on the planet championship that we misplaced in Monaco and it underlined that we’re nonetheless within the recreation, that we’re nonetheless a drive to be reckoned with. The enjoyment and aid have been large.
“So far as qualifying is worried, after Monaco we analysed what went effectively within the first races and what we might’ve carried out higher midseason. We drew the correct conclusions from this. We now goal to show all of this right into a high lead to Portland.”
With simply 5 races remaining beginning this weekend in Portland, Wehrlein might be hoping to construct a lead within the standings, to take among the strain off. As issues stand he leads by only a single level from Nick Cassidy, demonstrating how shut the championship is. This weekend is about to be a little bit of an odd one although, because the race might be held on an precise circuit.
Wehrlein insists that this hasn’t impacted his preparations for the weekend, with him really believing that Porsche might be “robust’ on the Portland Worldwide Raceway.
“Under no circumstances. We ticked off our regular to-do listing within the simulator and received a good suggestion of how the observe will really feel. I feel we’ll arrive in Portland with a superb baseline package deal and we’ll be robust there. The subsequent few weeks might be very intense, which makes it crucial for us to start out the final third of the season efficiently in Portland.”
“I’ll assist the crew and Pascal” – António Félix da Costa
On the opposite facet of the Porsche storage, António Félix da Costa heads to Portland having completed eighth and seventh in Jakarta, successfully ending his slim possibilities of successful a second FE title this 12 months.
The Portuguese driver is just specializing in the weekend forward, the place he expects “power administration” to be essential. Porsche have often thrived at venues the place preserving power has been key, suggesting that Da Costa could possibly be in for a powerful E-Prix.
“The circuit is tremendous quick. Vitality administration will play an vital function. When it comes to technique, it definitely received’t be simple, however that mentioned, we did effectively at different new racetracks this season. We climbed the rostrum in Hyderabad and received in Cape City. Why ought to Portland be any totally different? I feel it’s nice that we’re racing within the USA once more. The occasions there are all the time one thing particular.”
With him being out of the title race, Da Costa has admitted that he’s glad to play the crew recreation and assist Wehrlein win the Drivers’ Championship. He’s “glad” to take the quantity two driver function for the rest of the 12 months, on account of believing that his team-mate “would do the identical” if it was the opposite approach round.
“I’ll assist the crew and Pascal as a lot as I can and do the whole lot to make sure that each world championship titles go to Porsche. I’m glad to tackle this function as a result of I’m positive Pascal would do the identical for me if the roles have been reversed. That’s not an issue for me. It is a crew sport. Our widespread purpose is to win races and championships. That’s our job.”
