Sacha Fenestraz claimed the pole in a dramatic Cape Town E-Prix qualifying session, beating out Maximillian Gunther in the duels final.
The French driver also set the fastest-ever lap in Formula E history, after Nick Cassidy did the same in FP2 this morning.
There was drama before the session even started with none of the Mahindra-powered cars going out in qualifying due to a technical issue.
The team later confirmed both theirs and ABT’s withdrawal from the race due to suspension safety concerns.
Rookie Jake Hughes who has previously shone in qualifying struggled in Group A, hitting the wall twice in the session.
Group B then took to the track with only eight drivers present. The session ended early being red-flagged with three minutes to go due to a nasty incident between Edoardo Mortara and Sam Bird.
Mortara lost control of his car through the sweeping turn nine. Bird fell victim to the same corner as he made his way through, not warned being warned of the stationary car by any yellow flags.
Times were tight at the top of Group B, with NIO 333’s Dan Ticktum missing out on the duels by three-hundredths of a second.
Championship leader Pascal Wehrlein was beaten out in the quarter-finals by Cassidy, with Mitch Evans, Gunther and Fenestraz also advancing.
Evans was ahead for much of his duel against Gunther, but couldn’t quite get the last sector right gifting the German a place in the final for the first time.
Despite tapping the wall in their duel, Fenestraz gave it enough to beat out Cassidy to take his place in the final.
Neither Gunther nor Fenestraz have previously claimed a pole in Formula E.
The Cape Town E-Prix will begin at 16:03 local time.
