In terms of sporting shocks it was almost up there with Buster Douglas knocking out Mike Tyson, Leicester City winning the Premier League or Olivier Panis triumphing in the Monaco Grand Prix.
Prior to the New York City ePrix, the last time a DS Virgin Racing car had been on pole position was in Berlin mid-way through Season 2. Although its Season 3 car had been a contender in qualifying, witness Jose Maria Lopez missing out on the top spot by 0.001s in Tempelhof, there were few people in the Formula E paddock who were tipping a series debutant for pole as the cars headed out for the qualifying in Brooklyn.
Yet that is exactly what Alex Lynn - who was standing in for Lopez - did, becoming only the third driver in Formula E history to start his debut race from pole. It was a stellar effort, but one that would not be followed up in kind during the race.
He was beaten into the first corner by Daniel Abt, as all the cars on the ‘pole side’ of the grid struggled for traction. He initially kept the leader in sight, but as the race wore on it became clear that he was struggling to meet his energy management figures, forcing him to slow his pace and he gradually slipped down the order before switching to his second car.
He was back up to fourth when transmission failure struck and an impressive debut was over. His qualifying was less sensational for the Sunday race, and once more he hit troubles, this time electrical. It meant he was left with just three bonus points, but that pole had made a lot of people in the paddock sit up and take notice as they contemplate their line-ups for Season 4 and beyond.