Jake Hughes heads to the inaugural Portland E-Prix this weekend aiming to put some “key steps” into practice, following a disappointing double-header in Jakarta.
Despite having looked so fast in Monaco, the NEOM McLaren Formula E Team struggled for outright pace in Jakarta, resulting in Hughes scoring the Woking-based team’s only point of the double-header. Hughes finished tenth in the first of two races in the Indonesian capital, whilst he retired in the second.
The rookie has impressed for the vast majority of this season and is hoping to “bounce back” from his Jakarta struggles this weekend, on the West Coast. Formula E’s trip to Portland is expected to be a rapid one, with Hughes targeting to “iron out any inconsistencies” in the United States on Saturday.
“I’m really looking forward to racing in Portland. We’re looking to bounce back from a challenging weekend in Jakarta, where we had flashes of good performance, but couldn’t put it all together, meaning we returned home with only one point. We have already taken key steps to understand why, and hopefully going into the rest of the season we can iron out any inconsistencies and bring some pace, starting this weekend.”
“The track looks very unusual” – René Rast
Jakarta was also a miserable experience for René Rast, who failed to show any real pace throughout the double-header. The German finished fifteenth in both races, with a top ten finish having never looked like a possibility.
Rast heads to Portland hoping to “score some solid points”, in an attempt to make up for his Jakarta woes. He’s expecting energy management to be crucial at the Portland International Raceway, given that it’s not a street track. Formula E will be racing on an actual race circuit this weekend, something Rast admits is “very unusual” for FE.
“This will be my first time visiting Portland. The track looks very unusual for a Formula E circuit, and something we’re not using to racing on. The race will also be very energy sensitive and we’re expecting a lot of pack racing, which should be exciting with plenty of overtaking. For us, the focus will be to score some solid points after a disappointing weekend in Jakarta. I’m looking forward to it!”
