Evans celebrates his first ever pole-position in Zurich

10/06/2018 Formula E, News, Zurich ePrix

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]A flawless lap allowed Mitch Evans to celebrate his first ever pole-position ahead of Andre Lotterer and Sam Bird. Championship leader Jean-Eric Vergne meanwhile only qualified P17 after a “nightmare lap”.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_text_separator title=”GROUP 1″ title_align=”separator_align_left” color=”green”][vc_message message_box_color=”green”]Jean-Eric Vergne (TECHEETAH)

Sam Bird (DS Virgin Racing)

Felix Rosenqvist (Mahindra Racing)

Daniel Abt (Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler)

Sebastien Buemi (Renault e.dams)[/vc_message][vc_column_text]With the top five drivers of the championship all starting in the first group, the start to the qualifying session in Zurich was set to be an exciting one. Championship leader Jean-Eric Vergne was the first driver to head out onto the bumpy track, while his competitors waited until just about two minutes were left on the clock. But luck was not the Frenchman’s side today as all of his four rivals went quicker, championship rival Sam Bird topping the group-one-session with a 1:12.981, ahead of local hero Sebastien Buemi and Berlin E-Prix winner Daniel Abt.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_text_separator title=”GROUP 2″ title_align=”separator_align_left” color=”green”][vc_message message_box_color=”green”]Lucas di Grassi (Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler)

Mitch Evans (Panasonic Jaguar Racing)

Nelson Piquet JR (Panasonic Jaguar Racing)

Oliver Turvey (NIO Formula E)

Andre Lotterer (TECHEETAH)[/vc_message][vc_column_text]The first man taking on the challenge of the tricky Zurich E-Prix track was reigning champion Lucas di Grassi who also topped the first practice session earlier this morning, closely followed by Mitch Evans. The Brazilian secured a provisional second place, but Evans quickly showed how naturally quick a driver he is, taking provisional pole-position with ten of twenty drivers already having left their mark on qualifying. Andre Lotterer put his TECHEETAH in P2 within the last few seconds of the session, pushing Abt, Rsoenqvist and Vergne out of the top-five. Oliver Turvey meanwhile, hit the wall in turn three on his qualifying lap, putting him far out of the Super Pole contention.

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_text_separator title=”GROUP 3″ title_align=”separator_align_left” color=”green”][vc_message message_box_color=”green”]Edoardo Mortara (Venturi Formula E)

Maro Engel (Venturi Formula E)

Nick Heidfeld (Mahindra Racing)

Alex Lynn (DS Virgin Racing)

Antonio Felix da Costa (MS&AD Andretti)[/vc_message][vc_column_text]With the track improving a bit from session to session, everybody’s eyes were on the group-three drivers and whether they would be able to push the championship contenders further down the order. But there was no reason to worry as none of them were able to secure a provisional position within the top-five, nevertheless pushing Vergne back to P13 as Alex Lynn put his DS Virgin Racing car on P9 while Nick Heidfeld, Edoardo Mortara and Antonio Felix da Costa crossed the line in P10, P11 and P12 respectively.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_text_separator title=”GROUP 4″ title_align=”separator_align_left” color=”green”][vc_message message_box_color=”green”]Jose-Maria Lopez (DRAGON)

Jerome d’Ambrosio (DRAGON)

Nicolas Prost (Renault e.dams)

Luca Filippi (NIO Formula E)

Stephane Sarrazin (MS&AD Andretti)[/vc_message][vc_column_text]Nicolas Prost headed out first, but was not filled with confidence when starting his flying lap, following a big lock-up during his warm-up. Nevertheless, the Frenchman was able to surprise, putting his Renault e.dams on P6 – going even quicker than Abt. But he did not remain in P6 for long, as Jerome d’Ambrosio crossed the line in P2 and teammate Jose-Maria Lopez secured a strong third place, pushing reigning champion di Grassi out of the Super Pole shootout.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_text_separator title=”SUPER POLE” title_align=”separator_align_left” color=”green”][vc_message message_box_color=”green”]Mitch Evans (Panasonic Jaguar Racing)

Jerome d’Ambrosio (DRAGON)

Jose-Maria Lopez (DRAGON)

Andre Lotterer (TECHEETAH)

Sam Bird (DS Virgin Racing)[/vc_message][vc_column_text]The first driver to use his last chance to secure the historic Zurich E-Prix pole-position was championship runner-up Bird. The Brit gave it his all, brushing the wall but never losing control of his car, thus crossing the lap with a 1:13.022. Next up was Lotterer, who did his teammate Vergne a big favour as he went quicker than Bird and spoiled the Brit’s chances of collecting three additional points for the championship. Lopez started into his flying lap with some drifting, nearly hitting the wall in the exit of turn 1 and thus putting himself out of contention for pole-position. His teammate d’Ambrosio headed out next and looked like he would be able to beat Lotterer’s provisional pole-position time. Nevertheless, the Belgian lost a tenth of a second in the third sector and could only secure P3. Last but not least, it was Evan’s turn – and once again, the Panasonic Jaguar driver was able to show just how fast he is. With a flawless lap, he secured his first ever ABB Formula E pole-position ahead of Lotterer and Bird.[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]