Bird clinches Pole Position in Marrakesh

Sam Bird

Despite sustaining damage during the Qualifying session, Envision Virgin Racing's Sam Bird sails into Pole ahead of the Marrakesh E-Prix.

Behind Bird DS Techeetah's Jean-Eric Vergne and BMW i Andretti Motorsport's Antonio Felix da Costa in third (although the Portuguese driver came under investigation during the session). Former Marrakesh winner Sebastien Buemi will start the race in fourth with BMW i Andretti Motorsport's Alex Sims in fifth. Sixth on the grid is Panasonic Jaguar Racing's Mitch Evans who overshot the braking point on turn six, scuppering his chances of securing Pole.

Behind Evans is Mahindra Racing's rookie driver Pascal Wehrlein, who makes his debut at the Marrakesh E-Prix. He will start the race in seventh with Envision Virgin Racing's Robin Frijns starting in eighth despite posting the fastest time in the first Practice session.

Panasonic Jaguar Racing's Nelson Piquet Jn will start ninth followed by Mahindra Racing's Jerome d'Ambrosio. Former champ Lucas di Grassi (Audi Sport Abt Schaeffler) will start the race in 11th after struggling with the morning's practice sessions due to a broken water pump. Behind di Grassi on the grid is Nissan e.dams' Oliver Rowland.

Vergne favorite to win

In 13th is Geox Dragon's Jose-Maria Lopez, followed by Oliver Turvey (NIO Formula E Team) and Venturi's Felipe Massa in 15th. Audi's Daniel Abt will start in 16th after an uneventful morning in Marrakesh.

Starting the race in 17th is birthday boy Edoardo Mortara who celebrates his 32nd birthday today. NIO driver Tom Dillmann will sit behind him followed by HWA Racelab's Gary Paffett and DS Techeetah's Andre Lotterer. After Geox Dragon's Max Guenther stopped on track after making contact with the barrier coming out of Turn 6, the rookie driver will start the race in 21st while HWA's Stoffel Vandoorne, who suffered a power failure, was denied the chance to post a Qualifying lap time. He will start the race at the back of the grid.

Da Costa gets Grid Penalty

Antonio Felix da Costa has been given a three-place grid penalty in Marrakech for exceeding the maximum permitted power on non-flying laps in qualifying.

The BMW Andretti driver's car was recorded at a maximum power output of 204.92kW, and the incident occurred on his out and in laps during the first group stage of qualifying.

Drivers are not permitted to run above 200kW before or after their 250kW flying laps.

Da Costa drops from third to sixth as a result of the penalty.

Starting grid