Alexander Sims stormed to a maiden ABB FIA Formula E Championship pole position in the final qualifying session of Season 5 for BMW i Andretti Motorsport.
In the group qualifying stages, Sims completed his initial 250kW run in the third group, posting a 1m 09.690s lap to secure the fastest time overall and a subsequent position inside Super Pole.
Sebastien Buemi, who marginally held onto his spot inside the top six shootout, was the first runner in the final qualifying scrap and posted a benchmark 1m 09.729s lap to move into a provisional first place, the Swiss racer needing to take pole position to keep his championship hopes alive.
Envision Virgin Racing's Sam Bird was the second runner of Super Pole and failed to challenge Buemi, ending up 0.166s adrift while team-mate Robin Frijns bettered the Briton's efforts to take the fastest time by 0.017s, ending Buemi's title aspirations.
As the fourth and fifth runners respectively, Daniel Abt and Stoffel Vandoorne failed to challenge, leaving Sims as the only man who could stop Frijns from taking pole position.
Cutting to the timing beam on his final qualifying lap, Sims set the fastest time by 0.095s to beat Frijns to pole position, securing three bonus points by doing so.
Missing out on pole, Frijns was second while Buemi was third, the Swiss racer failing to replicate his pace from qualifying for Race 1 of the New York City E-Prix.
Bird emerged as the fourth-fastest runner at the end of Super Pole while Vandoorne was fifth, with Abt completing the top six for Audi Sport Abt Schaeffler.
Oliver Rowland qualified in seventh place as the best of the rest in the second Nissan e.dams entry while Jaguar Racing' Mitch Evans secured eighth on the gird as the highest-placed title protagonist.
After getting impeded by Tom Dillmann, Gary Paffett was ninth in the second HWA Racelab while Edoardo Mortara completed the top 10 for Venturi Formula E.
Outside of the top 10, Lucas di Grassi was 11th fastest and will start alongside title rival Jean-Eric Vergne, the Frenchman only managing 12th on the grid after struggling for pace in Group 1 qualifying.
With Buemi out of title contention, Vergne, di Grassi and Evans are the only three drivers remaining who can take the Drivers' Championship, with the Vergne holding a 22 point lead over di Grassi while Evans trails by 25 with 26 points still on offer.
The ABB FIA Formula E Championship's fifth season of competition will come to a close later today with Race 2 of the New York City E-Prix commencing at 16:00 local time.
Discussion about this post