Antonio Felix da Costa picked up his first pole position in Formula E ahead of Long Beach ePrix later today.
No hurtful mistakes were made in California today, but the qualifying session did bring some surprises. While Nick Heidfeld was able to get into the Super Pole group, and will be starting fifth for the race, both championship leader Sebastien Buemi and his teammate Nico Prost missed out on the chance to grab pole position.
Group One
Sam Bird, DS Virgin Racing
Jerome D’Ambrosio, Dragon Racing
Sebastien Buemi, Renault e.dams
Robin Frijns, Andretti Formula E
Oliver Turvey, NEXTEV TCR
The first driver out was Buemi, who has had some disappointing qualifying performance this season. While his full lap was quick enough to go fastest at the time, rival Bird put in a 56.8 lap to finish first in the group.
Frijns was also able to get a better time than the championship leader, finishing in second. D’Ambrosio will be disappointed with a time only good enough for fourth after he grabbed pole for the Mexico ePrix. Unsurprisingly, Turvey in the NEXTEV machine was the slowest driver in the group.
Group Two
Stephane Sarrazin, Venturi
Loic Duval, Dragon Racing
Nico Prost, Renault e.dams
Simona de Silvestro, Andretti Formula E
Buemi’s teammate Prost was the first driver out, and even after completing a quick looking lap was slower than his teammate. Sarrazin was the quickest in the group, pushing Prost to fifth overall, but wasn’t able to go quicker than Birds time in the first group.
Duval brushed the wall coming out of turn five on his lap and was only able to put in a time quick enough for seventh. Simona de Silvestro, who looked quick in the practice sessions, pushed Duval down to eighth after finishing seventh.
Group Three
Nelson Piquet Jr, NEXTEV TCR
Jean-Eric Vergne, DS Virgin Racing
Daniel Abt, ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport
Salvador Duran, Team Aguri
Abt was soon out after the session started. While he was approximately 0.2 seconds slower in the first sector, he kept the deficit to 0.231 seconds after the second sector. He lost some time before the end, but was able to get in fourth to give him a chance to get into the Super Pole group.
Vergne will be disappointed to only be able to finish his lap in eighth after his teammate Bird was still the fastest driver after the first three groups. Defending champion Piquet Jr was only able to go 10th behind his teammate Turvey, while it was even worse for Team Aguri’s Duran who ended group three in 12th.
Group Four
Lucas di Grassi, ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport
Mike Conway, Venturi
Bruno Senna, Mahindra Racing
Nick Heidfeld, Mahindra Racing
Antonio Felix da Costa, Team Aguri
After at least one driver from the previous group were in the top five at the start of Group Four, there was still a chance for the Super Pole group to change again.
Di Grassi started his lap before everyone else. While he had a scruffy start to his lap, he was able to go second fastest to bump his championship rival Buemi out of the top five. Da Costa went even quicker than di Grassi, but wasn’t faster than Bird, and he moved Abt out of the Super Pole contention.
Senna was only able to go tenth fastest with a 57.383, while his teammate Heidfeld surprised fans by going third fastest with a 57.129, putting him in the Super Pole group. Conway finished the group in 16th place overall, which is where he will start in the race.
Super Pole
Sam Bird, DS Virgin Racing
Antonio Felix da Costa, Team Aguri
Nick Heidfeld, Mahindra Racing
Lucas di Grassi, ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport
Stephane Sarrazin, Venturi
For the first time this season, Renault e.dams weren’t in the Super Pole group with any of their drivers. Sarrazin for Venturi was the first to put in a lap, and finished up with a 57.412.
Out next was di Grassi, who won the Mexico City ePrix three weeks ago before he was disqualified after the race due to a team error. The Brazilian was 0.1 seconds faster in the first sector, and kept up the difference through the second sector. His lap put him in first position ahead of Sarrazin, but was only good enough for third after everyone was finished.
Heidfeld was one of the surprises of qualifying, and while his first sector was quick, the German wasn’t able to get ahead of Sarrazin or di Grassi. Da Costa in the Team Aguri car went after, and after being 0.226 seconds slower by the end of the second sector, his final sector was good enough to put him ahead of di Grassi.
DS Virgin Racing’s Bird, who along with di Grassi is currently a contender for the championship this season, was the last driver to set a lap. He was 0.006 seconds slower in the first sector, and 0.034 faster after the second sector, very close to the time set by da Costa.
Unfortunately for the Brit, he finished his lap in second. While it puts him on the front row, the pole position went to Da Costa. We know that the race in Long Beach is going to be a close contest.
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