DS Techeetah’s Jean-Eric Vergne took a crucial FIA Formula E Championship pole in Swiss EPrix from Jaguar Racing’s Mitch Evans.
Group 1
It was close to the line in the first group of Formula E Swiss EPrix but all made it through to set a quick time with DS Techeetah’s Jean-Eric Vergne (1m19.232s) quickest from teammate Andre Lotterer (1m19.585s) in a tight circuit at Bern.
Behind the two DS Techeetah drivers, it was Envision Virgin’s Robin Frijns (1m19.591s) slotting in third ahead of Audi’s Lucas di Grassi (1m20.034s) and BMW Andretti’s Antonio Felix da Costa (1m20.081s).
Group 2
The second group changed the standings a bit as Jaguar Racing’s Mitch Evans went quickest with a 1m18.897s from Vergne with Nissan e.Dams’ Sebastien Buemi (1m19.310s) in third from Audi’s Daniel Abt (1m19.554s).
Lotterer and Frijns kept their Top 6 spot as Mahindra Racing’s Jerome D’Ambrosio (1m19.613s) missed out in seventh to be ahead of Nissan e.Dams’ Oliver Rowland (1m19.670s), di Grassi and da Costa.
Group 3
The Top 2 remained the same after the third group with Mahindra’s Pascal Wehrlein slotting in third with a 1m19.265s to be ahead of Buemi as Envision Virgin’s Sam Bird (1m19.435s) was fifth despite the British racer was delayed in starting the session.
It pushed both Frijns and Lotterer out of Top 6. Among others, Venturi’s Felipe Massa (1m19.638s) was 10th with HWA Racelab’s Stoffel Vandoorne (1m19.719s) in 12th ahead of BMW Andretti’s Alexander Sims (1m19.908s) & Venturi’s Edoardo Mortara (1m20.023s).
Group 4
The final group of qualifying only had one change on offer with GEOX Dragon’s Maximilian Gunther (1m19.325s) making it into Super Pole in fifth by bumping Abt out. No one else was troubled with Evans, Vergne, Wehrlein, Buemi and Bird making it through.
Among other runners, Jaguar’s Alex Lynn (1m19.608s) was 10th with GEOX Dragon’s Jose Maria Lopez (1m19.714s) in 14th, HWA Racelab’s Gary Paffett (1m19.804s) 16th and the NIO par of Tom Dillmann (1m20.506s) and Oliver Turvey (1m20.551s) in 21st and 22nd.
Super Pole
First up in the Super Pole was Envision Virgin’s Bird, who set a 1m19.536s but GEOX Dragon’s Gunther trounced him with a 1m19.371s. The two were then taken on by Nissan e.Dams’ Buemi as he went quickest with a 1m19.164s.
It was close with Mahindra’s Wehrlein in next but the German missed on pole by 0.004s after his time of 1m19.160s. The situation changed with DS Techeetah’s Vergne going quickest with a 1m18.813s to score Formula E Swiss EPrix pole.
In the end, Jaguar’s Evans couldn’t beat him after a 1m19.120s to be second ahead of Buemi, Wehrlein, Gunther and Bird in the Top 6.
Position 7-22: Abt, Lotterer, Frijns, Lynn, D’Ambrosio, Massa, Rowland, Lopez, Vandoorne, Paffett, Sims, Mortara, di Grassi, da Costa, Dillmann and Turvey.