Jaguar’s Evans dominates chaotic Qualifying

Mitch Evans
Mitch Evans

Panasonic Jaguar Racing's Mitch Evans made it through a challenging Qualifying session to snatch the Julius Baer Pole Position for the first time in the 2019/20 ABB FIA Formula E Championship.

Trailing Evans is BMW i Andretti Motorsport's Max Guenther, who starts ahead of Mahindra Racing's Pascal Wehrlein and NIO 333's Oliver Turvey in fourth. Rounding off Super Pole was former champ and Nissan e.dams' Sebastian Buemi, who started on Pole here in Santiago last year.

With track temperatures soaring to 41 degrees Celsius in the midday sun, conditions around the Parque O'Higgins circuit were getting even more challenging. Despite the tough conditions, 19 cars finished the session within a second of each other.

Just missing out on Super Pole was Rokit Venturi Racing's Edoardo Mortara will start the race in seventh ahead of rookie Mercedes EQ driver Nyck de Vries and his teammate Stoffel Vandoorne. Rounding off the top ten is DS Techeetah's Antonio Felix da Costa, who sits ahead of his teammate.

[adinserter name="GOOGLE AD"]For our reigning champion Jean-Eric Vergne, the DS Techeetah driver will start the race 11th in the middle of the pack. Currently 12th in the standings, Vergne will need to make up places here in Santiago to get his third title challenge back on track. Behind the Frenchman sits TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E team's Neel Jani with Audi Sport Abt Schaeffler's Daniel Abt in 13th.

Behind Abt sits Porsche front man Andre Lotterer in 14th, followed by championship leader Alex Sims (BMW i Andretti Motorsport) in 15th. Currently leading the way, a 15th place finish could cause trouble for the British driver's championship title hopes.

Starting in 16th is Envision Virgin Racing's Sam Bird. Despite winning the race here last season, a new track layout puts Bird on a level playing field with the rest of the pack. Behind Bird sits Geox Dragon's Brendon Hartley, Panasonic Jaguar Racing's James Calado and Hartley's teammate Nico Mueller.

Suffering car trouble towards the end of his flying lap, Mahindra Racing's Jerome d'Ambrosio is left starting the race 20th. After failing to start the last race in Saudi Arabia due to technical issues, the Belgian driver will need to work hard to improve his standing.

Gunter 2nd quick
Gunter 2nd quick

For Envision Virgin Racing's Robin Frijns, the Dutch driver spun 360 degrees through Turn 1, narrowly missing the wall and Venturi's Edoardo Mortara. Ending up facing the right direction, Frijns continued his lap despite the significant loss of time and will start the race 21st.

Audi Sport Abt Scheaffler driver Lucas di Grassi locked up into Turn 9, narrowly missing the wall and crucially loosing time. The former champ will start 23 in Santiago. For Nissan e.dams' Oliver Rowland, the British driver met with the wall on Turn 4, causing significant damage to the car ahead of the race. With just hours to go until the main event, time will tell if the Nissan garage can get Rowland race ready in time. If so, the Brit will start the race in 22nd.

Suffering a collision with the wall at the end of Practice 2 in the morning, NIO 333's ma Qinghua failed to make it out for Qualifying. With the NIO garage busy repairing his car, it's likely the Chinese driver will start the race at the back of the pack.

Qualifying Results

Pos No. Driver Team Time Behind Gap
1 20 M. Evans Panasonic Jaguar Racing 1:04.827 0.000 0.000
2 28 M. Gunther BMW I Andretti Motorsport 1:05.102 0.275 0.275
3 94 P. Wehrlein Mahindra Racing 1:05.645 0.818 0.543
4 19 F. Massa Rokit Venturi Racing 1:05.645 0.818 0.000
5 3 O. Turvey Nio 333 Fe Team 1:05.788 0.961 0.143
6 23 S. Buemi Nissan E.Dams 1:05.809 0.982 0.021
7 48 E. Mortara Rokit Venturi Racing 1:05.547 Super Pole Cutoff
8 17 N. De Vries Mercedes-Benz EQ Formula E Team 1:05.560 0.013 0.013
9 5 S. Vandoorne Mercedes-Benz EQ Formula E Team 1:05.566 0.019 0.006
10 13 A. Da Costa Ds Techeetah 1:05.574 0.027 0.008
11 25 J. Vergne Ds Techeetah 1:05.625 0.078 0.051
12 18 N. Jani Tag Heuer Porsche Formula E Team 1:05.696 0.149 0.071
13 66 D. Abt Audi Sport Abt Schaeffler Formula E Team 1:05.745 0.198 0.049
14 36 A. Lotterer Tag Heuer Porsche Formula E Team 1:05.801 0.254 0.056
15 27 A. Sims BMW I Andretti Motorsport 1:05.848 0.301 0.047
16 2 S. Bird Envision Virgin Racing 1:05.886 0.339 0.038
17 6 B. Hartley Geox Dragon 1:06.126 0.579 0.240
18 51 J. Calado Panasonic Jaguar Racing 1:06.305 0.758 0.179
19 7 N. Muller Geox Dragon 1:06.367 0.820 0.062
20 64 J. D'Ambrosio Mahindra Racing 1:07.692 2.145 1.325
21 4 R. Frijns Envision Virgin Racing 1:09.089 3.542 1.397
22 22 O. Rowland Nissan E.Dams 1:18.239 12.692 9.150
23 11 L. Di Grassi Audi Sport Abt Schaeffler Formula E Team 1:26.526 20.979 8.287
24 33 Ma Qinghua Nio 333 Fe Team