Taylor Barnard will line-up in pole position for Race 1 of the Formula E Monaco E-Prix after Oliver Rowland crashed on his flying lap in the finals duel.
The NEOM McLaren man, at the scene of his FE debut last year, drove brilliantly all session and it was all set for, for the second time this season, a final head-to-head between his old mentor and title-leader.
But Rowland’s crash saw his protege line-up in first again.
The day began with the likes of Rowland, Wehrlein and Dennis amongst the big hitters in Group A, and it was the Nissan man beginning strongly, top and a tenth up on de Vries with just a minute to go.
Wehrlein started to slip away from the safe zone, but completed a late lap which put him back into the top four, and just stayed in as Dennis sneaked in as the chequered flag fell.
Rowland’s 1:28.713s was enough to see him through, a relief after a disappointing qualifying in Miami.
Group B included Rowland’s chief rival da Costa alongside Barnard and Ticktum, who went top in both free practice sessions earlier in the morning.
Lucas di Grassi set the first meaningful lap time with just three-and-a-half minutes to go, a 1:29.765. It was immediately obliterated by Evans, who went six tenths faster.
Ticktum then went second, less than a tenth behind, as Barnard, Frijns and da Costa displaced him swiftly.
At the flag, Evans cemented first but Ticktim immediately went faster, and topped the group with a 1:28.661s, three tenths faster.
Barnard and Frijns went through, with da Costa dumped out, along with Nick Cassidy in a disappointing 10th, seven tenths down on his team-mate.
Ticktum continues morning form with Evans and Wehrlein dumped out
De Vries and Dennis was the first duel, and the Dutchman’s tidier lap saw him go through with a 1:26.890s, almost two tenths ahead of the Andretti man.
Wehrlein against Rowland was a mouthwatering matchup, with and the Brit found himself three tenths up on the reigning World Champion in the middle of the lap, and his 1:26.709s saw him progress, despite losing time in sector three.
Barnard was pitched against Evans in the third duel, and the Jaguar was a tenth up in the first sector.
There was then less than two hundredths in it by sector two, in Barnard’s favour, but the Kiwi fell further behind and by the end of the lap, he was four tenths adrift of Barnard’s 1:26.752s.
The final head-to-head of the round was Frijns against Ticktum, and early on, the Kiro was up but by only five hundredths.
It was then two hundredths in favour of Frijns but Ticktum pulled out a stunner of a final sector to go through with a 1:26.784s, over one-and-a-half-tenths ahead of the Envision.
British dominance in the Kingdom of Saudi returns in the principality
The first semi-final saw the in-form de Vries against Rowland, who was slightly up in sector one and by the second, he increased his advantaged but at the end of the lap, there was less than a tenth in it, but a 1:26.617s saw the Nissan go through by a margin of two tenths.
The second semi saw Ticktum up against Barnard, a very tasty all-British showdown.
Ticktum was up in sector one but the McLaren was four hundredths against in sector two, and then ahead by only two hundredths towards the end of the lap.
Barnard stormed through the end of the lap in scintillating style, a 1:16.315s seeing him make the final by a tenth. A valiant effort from Ticktum, and still finds himself in a strong position for the race.
Barnard secures pole before his final begins
For the second time this season, it was Barnard against his old mentor Rowland, but the youngster grabbed his second pole without lifting a finger.
As Rowland turned into Sainte-Devote, the Nissan failed to clearly negotiate the exit clouted the barrier on the exit. In a flash, three points was gone and in Barnard’s hands.
The McLaren just had to coast setting an academic 1:30.117s to take, on a race day, the most valuable piece of real estate in Monaco – the pole position grid slot.
READ MORE – Monaco E-Prix: Dan Ticktum tops both free practice sessions
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