Mitch Evans has taken one giant step closer to his maiden ABB Formula E World Championship title, securing an all-important third place start as Stoffel Vandoorne kept Mercedes EQ in the fight for the Teams’ Championship with pole position on home soil.
The Belgian driver secured the German manufacturer’s fourth Julius Baer Pole Position of the season and will start alongside FP2 pace-setter Oliver Rowland on the front row. The Brit will want to leave on a high in his final appearance for the Nissan e.dams team before he joins Mahindra for the 2021/22 campaign.
Evans knew that a Super Pole appearance was essential to keeping his championship hopes alive and the Kiwi did not disappoint, clocking in a 1:07.083 to pip Jake Dennis by 0.023 seconds.
However, it was Vandoorne who denied Evans the bonus point for topping Group Qualifying. His time of 1:06.678 could not be matched, although Rowland came close being only three-thousandths away.
As the title contenders fought for a place in the six-car shootout, some unexpected faces through a spanner in their plans. Vandoorne and Rowland are both out of the fight for the Drivers’ Championship and would be joined in Super Pole by ROKiT Venturi’s Norman Nato, Mahindra’s Alexander Sims and Tom Blomqvist in a surprise appearance for the NIO 333 team as Evans managed to hold on to a crucial sixth spot by the skin of his teeth.
Unfortunately for him, pole position was not to be. Evans laid down the Super Pole benchmark with a scrappy 1:07.010 but a charging Rowland put himself on to provisional pole, going 0.085 seconds quicker.
Yet it was Vandoorne who seized the headlines from Qualifying as the Belgian driver put in another stellar performance. A lap of 1:06.794 was good enough to take the top spot away from the Brit by just over a tenth of a second for his third Julius Baer Pole Position of the season, the most of any driver on the grid.
Crucially for the championship fight, Evans secured a second row start alongside Sims. Translating outright pace for race pace will be Blomqvist’s mission from fifth on the grid and Nato will be forced to start sixth after a technical issue saw the Frenchman unable to set a time.
Andre Lotterer starts seventh, missing out on Super Pole by only 0.005 seconds to Evans. Sebastien Buemi lines up in eighth for Nissan e.dams with championship contender Dennis for company just behind in ninth. The Brit was fortunate to avoid damage after tapping the wall heading into Turn 3.
TAG Heuer Porsche’s Pascal Wehrlein closes out the top 10 but is under investigation for a return to garage procedure.
Meanwhile, the battle for the title continues with several of its main protagonists having a fight on their hands from the midfield. Edoardo Mortara qualified in 11th and thankfully for him, lines up ahead of championship leader Nyck de Vries. Although less than a tenth separated the top four in Group 1, the Dutchman’s time was only good enough for a 13th-placed start.
Alex Lynn slotted his Mahindra into 14th ahead of the DS Techeetah duo of Antonio Felix da Costa and Jean-Eric Vergne. Yesterday’s race winner Lucas di Grassi struggled in Group 1 and finished 17th fastest.
Dreams of glory looked to have faded away for the Envision Virgin team and Jaguar’s Sam Bird. Robin Frijns’ Berlin struggles continued as the Dutchman qualified down in 21st, ahead of his former teammate Bird. Locking his rear tyres and getting out of shape in Turn 1 cost Nick Cassidy dearly, as the Kiwi rounded out the timing sheets and will start from the back of the grid.
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