Renault e.dams locked out the front row for the second London ePrix of the weekend, with Sebastien Buemi tied in points with Lucas di Grassi.
Buemi was mightily fast on both of his 200kw laps, setting a lap time of 1:22.033 to grab pole position. Second position for his teammate Nico Prost means that there is a driver in between the two championship rivals.
Group One
Nico Prost, Renault e.dams
Nelson Piquet Jr, NEXTEV TCR
Loic Duval, Dragon Racing
Jerome D’Ambrosio, Dragon Racing
Sam Bird, DS Virgin Racing
Nico Prost was quicker than Jerome d’Ambrosio behind him after the first sector, and was quicker than everyone else in the group by over one second. The 1:22.878 lap time surely will be enough for the Super Pole group.
The times were very close between everyone, with 0.022 seconds separating second from fifth. Sam Bird was the best of them, while Nelson Piquet Jr. was able to beat both Dragon Racing cars.
Group Two
Jean-Eric Vergne, DS Virgin Racing
Ma Qing Hua, Team Aguri
Lucas di Grassi, ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport
Simona de Silvestro, Andretti Formula E
Mike Conway, Venturi
Di Grassi went out first, knowing that he needs all the points he can get. Others went out behind while Mike Conway waited for a bit longer to find a gap on the track.
The Brazilian was slower than Prost in the first and second sector, but was easily quick enough to go second. Jean-Eric Vergne went ahead of his teammate, while Simona de Silvestro only went ninth after some mistakes on her fast lap. Conway went eighth and Ma Qing Hua last out of the ten drivers to put in a lap.
Group Three
Antonio Felix da Costa, Team Aguri
Nick Heidfeld, Mahindra Racing
Sebastien Buemi, Renault e.dams
Daniel Abt, ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport
Buemi was fractionally quicker in the first sector than his Renault e.dams teammate, while Daniel Abt matched Di Grassi. The Swiss driver improved in the second sector, and put down a 1:22.106 lap time, over seven tenths faster than Prost.
Nick Heidfeld was able to separate Di Grassi and Abt with his fast lap, putting him in fourth place before the final group go out. Antonio Felix da Costa wasn’t able to get near the other drivers in Group Three, and will start outside of the top ten.
Group Four
Stephane Sarrazin, Venturi
Bruno Senna, Mahindra Racing
Oliver Turvey, NEXTEV TCR
Robin Frijns, Andretti Formula E
Bruno Senna noticeably locked up into the final corner, but is fortunate to have made the mistake on his first lap. It was Oliver Turvey who put in his lap first, and he was able to go third fastest, faster than Di Grassi.
Robin Frijns was only able to go 16th while Senna only 13th, 11 places below where he qualified yesterday. Stephane Sarrazin concluded the qualifying attempts on a low 15th position.
Super Pole
Lucas di Grassi, ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport
Nick Heidfeld, Mahindra Racing
Nico Prost, Renault e.dams
Oliver Turvey, NEXTEV TCR
Sebastien Buemi, Renault e.dams
Heidfeld was out first in the Mahindra car, attempting to do what his teammate did on Saturday. A scruffy lap from the German however meant he only set a time of 1:24.827.
The leader of the Drivers’ Championship Lucas di Grassi was out next, and he was over one second up on Heidfeld after the second sector. The Brazilian was able to get under 1:23 to put the pressure on Buemi as well as his teammate Prost.
Oliver Turvey was flying on his fast lap in Battersea Park. He was quicker than Di Grassi in the first sector, 0.3 seconds slower overall by the second sector, and ended up being seven tenths slower by the end of the lap. The Brit will be happy with his performance to make sure he starts on the second row at least.
Yesterday’s pole-sitter Prost was the second to last driver out, and locked up heavily going into the final corner at the beginning of his lap. Even with that the French driver was able to get on the front row of the grid, but by only 0.027 seconds over Di Grassi. The Renault e.dams team won’t mind.
It was all down to Buemi on the final qualifying lap of the second Formula E season. He was marginally faster than his teammate in the first sector and was over four tenths up after t he second sector. 1:22.033 was the lap time that gave Buemi pole position, and meant that him and Di Grassi go into the final race tied in the Drivers’ Championship.
Comments.
Loading comments…