Da Costa takes pole in dramatic qualifying

Antonio Felix da Costa on pole
Antonio Felix da Costa on pole

Continuing his streak of success with his new team DS Techeetah, it was Antonio Felix da Costa who clinched the Julius Baer Pole Position ahead of the 2020 Marrakesh E-Prix, despite being one of the first to go out in Qualifying group one. Close behind him was young championship contender Max Guenther, who narrowly missed out on the top spot. The BMW driver will start on the front row in second.

Despite clinching Pole in Mexico City, TAG Heuer Porsche's Andre Lotterer failed to make it into the top spot this time out. The German is yet to claim a win in Formula E but has built a solid points foundation so far this season. The Porsche frontman will start the race in third ahead of Mercedes-Benz EQ's Nyck de Vries, Rokit Venturi Racing's Edoardo Mortara and Nissan e.dams' Sebastian Buemi who rounds off the Super Pole six.

Just missing out on Super Pole was last year's race winner Jerome D'Ambrosio (Mahindra Racing) who starts the race in seventh. After he and his teammate Pascal Wehrlein battled their way through the pack in Mexico City after a disastrous penalty, starting in the top ten is a vast improvement for the Belgian driver.

Behind D'Ambrosio sits BMW i Andretti Motorsport's Alex Sims and Nissan e.dams Oliver Rowland in eighth and ninth, while Panasonic Jaguar Racing's James Calado rounds off the top ten.

Andretti BMW driver Max Guenther to start 2nd
Andretti BMW driver Max Guenther to start 2nd

After missing out on Practice 1, reigning champion Jean-Eric Vergne (DS Techeetah) will start the race in near the middle of the pack in 11th, ahead of Geox Dragon's Brendon Hartley and Audi Sport Abt Schaeffler frontman Lucas di Grassi in 13th. Still yet to make a significant impact on the championship, di Grassi will need to battle through the pack to make it onto the podium and kickstart his title campaign.

Clipping the wall during his hot lap, Envision Virgin Racing's Robin Frijns lost time on track and will start the Marrakesh race 14th ahead of his teammate Sam Bird.

Behind Bird, sits Mahindra Racing's Pascal Wehrlein and the former Marrakesh unofficial lap record holder Nico Mueller (Geox Dragon) in 17th. Mercedes-Benz EQ's Stoffel Vandoorne will start near the back of the pack in 18th, ahead of Audi's Daniel Abt, NIO 333's Oliver Turvey and TAG Heuer Porsche's Neel Jani in 21st.

Far down the starting order is Rokit Venturi Racing's Felipe Massa and NIO 333's Ma Qinghua, who starts second from the back. Getting his timing wrong, championship leader Mitch Evans headed out to set his Qualifying lap too late, crossing the start line as the lights went red. Frustrated by the disastrous team decision, the Kiwi will start the race at the back of the pack, threatening the championship lead he'd built up after a win in Mexico City.

Qualifying Results

Pos No. Driver Team Time Behind Gap
1 13 A. Da Costa DS Techeetah 1:17.158 0.000s 0.000s
2 28 M. Guenther BMW i Andretti Motorsport 1:17.227 0.069 0.069
3 36 A. Lotterer Tag Heuer Porsche 1:17.253 0.095 0.026
4 17 N. De Vries Mercedes-Benz EQ 1:17.590 0.432 0.337
5 48 E. Mortara Rokit Venturi Racing 1:17.803 0.645 0.213
6 23 S. Buemi Nissan E.Dams 1:17.811 0.653 0.008
Super Pole Cutoff
7 64 J. D'Ambrosio Mahindra Racing 1:17.798
8 27 A. Sims BMW i Andretti Motorsport 1:17.830 0.032 0.032
9 22 O. Rowland Nissan E.Dams 1:17.839 0.041 0.009
10 51 J. Calado Panasonic Jaguar Racing 1:17.867 0.069 0.028
11 25 J. Vergne DS Techeetah 1:17.928 0.130 0.061
12 6 B. Hartley Geox Dragon 1:17.944 0.146 0.016
13 11 L. Di Grassi Audi Sport Abt Schaeffler 1:17.958 0.160 0.014
14 4 R. Frijns Envision Virgin Racing 1:18.047 0.249 0.089
15 2 S. Bird Envision Virgin Racing 1:18.064 0.266 0.017
16 94 P. Wehrlein Mahindra Racing 1:18.069 0.271 0.005
17 7 N. Muller Geox Dragon 1:18.203 0.405 0.134
18 5 S. Vandoorne Mercedes-Benz EQ 1:18.218 0.420 0.015
19 66 D. Abt Audi Sport Abt Schaeffler 1:18.229 0.431 0.011
20 3 O. Turvey Nio 333 FE Team 1:18.313 0.515 0.084
21 18 N. Jani Tag Heuer Porsche 1:18.556 0.758 0.243
22 19 F. Massa Rokit Venturi Racing 1:18.675 0.877 0.119
23 33 Ma Qinghua Nio 333 Fe Team 1:19.359 1.561 0.684
24 20 M. Evans Panasonic Jaguar Racing No Time