Maximilian Günther claimed a solid sixth place finish at the inaugural Portland E-Prix to continue his recent run of good form, which saw him pick up a fifth top-six finish in the last six races.
The German was once again quick in qualifying and made it into the duels, where he claimed fifth on the grid for the twelfth round of the season. He made a solid start at the Portland International Raceway and remained amongst the frontrunners, until he was forced onto the grass in the closing laps. This left him in ninth as the race approached its end; however, he did well to recover to sixth.
Günther’s result saw him maintain seventh in the Drivers’ Championship, highlighting how well he’s been performing recently. The German was pleased with the “good points” given what happened in the closing stages, which robbed him of a potential podium.
“A good weekend for us. We were performing well across all sessions and put us in a great position with P5 in Qualifying. We were driving an intelligent race and we were in a strong position in P4 until a few laps to go. Unfortunately, a rival put me on the grass which made me lose some positions and put me on the back foot. I was in P9 but had good energy and good pace at the end, so I was able to recover some places to finish P6 – a good position with good points.”
Late Retirement a ‘Tough One to Swallow’ – Edoardo Mortara
As good as Günther drove on Saturday, he did unfortunately cause team-mate Edoardo Mortara to retire with three laps remaining. Günther’s front wing cut Mortara’s right-rear tyre, resulting in a puncture for the Swiss racer.
Mortara had been in the points throughout the entire race leading up to his retirement, meaning it was a “tough one to swallow” for the Maserati MSG Racing driver.
“Today’s race didn’t go well, and it’s a tough one to swallow. Although qualifying didn’t go our way, there were still lots of opportunities because of the style of racing. Our aim was to be in a strong position heading into the final three laps, and we executed a good strategy to build an energy advantage of around one or two percent over our nearest competitors.
“During the last laps, Max tried to overtake me in Turn 10, his wing cut my right-rear tyre and I was forced to retire with a puncture. At this point I was sixth, and I know there could have been more.”
