Edo Mortara was the first Formula E driver to break the 100mph (160.9km/h) average lap record around Portland International Raceway in Formula E’s first practice session of the weekend.
The Maserati MSG driver took the honours eight minutes into the session, his time of 1:11.321s enough to put him at the top of the timing board for the start of the Free Practice 1.
Jake Dennis was the next to set a 101mph (162.5km/h) lap, with this record of the fastest average lap expected to be easily broken again in Qualifying.
Before Mortara, rookie Sacha Fenestraz held the top average speed lap from the Monaco weekend as the 3.2km Portland circuit proved to be the fastest track on the 2023 calendar.
Another record broken in the practice’s closing stages was the fastest top speed, Sam Bird being the first driver to hit a top speed of 170mph (273.6km/h) in Formula E history.
Jaguar TCS Racing driver Mitch Evans improved this on his final flying lap to hit a speed of 171.9mph (276.6km/h).
Mortara finished the practice session in thirteenth place with a 1:09.890s, while his team-mate Maximillian Gunther, who took back-to-back pole in Jakarta, finished fifth, only 0.511s off the pace.
Neom McLaren’s Rene Rast was the pacesetter in Free Practice 1 with a time of 1:09.054s that he posted seconds before the chequered flag fell.
DS Penske’s Jean-Eric Vergne and Dan Ticktum from NIO333 joined him in the top three of FP1.
This was the first outing at the Portland International Raceway for the electric championship, the fourth debut track on the 2023 Formula E calendar.
Many drivers had to get to grips with the high speed corners, namely the exit of Turn 10 which caught out multiple drivers who ended up on the run-off or the access road during the 30 minutes.
Free Practice 2 begins tomorrow at 10:30 local time/03:30 AEST.
The Portland E-Prix will then begin shortly after at 17:03 local time/10:03 AEST.
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