NEOM McLaren's Jake Hughes achieved the third Julius Baer Pole Position of his Formula E career, as he took on two-time champion Jean-Eric Vergne in the final of the qualifying Duels. Hughes, who previously took pole in Diriyah and Monaco in Season 9, had looked quick all session and set a storming lap 1m16.538s.
It's a great result for Hughes, especially given he was demoted to the back of the grid yesterday for not having his car's fire extinguisher armed during the session. His teammate Sam Bird will start in fifth, as both cars made it through to the Duels. Elsewhere, TAG Heuer Porsche's Pascal Wehrlein starts third with ABT CUPRA's Nico Mueller in fourth, with both of them equalling the same result from yesterday's starting grid.
DS PENSKE's Stoffel Vandoorne is sixth, with Robin Frijns of Envision in seventh. Nick Cassidy of Jaguar TCS Racing will start in eighth, after having his lap time deleted for exceeding track limits on his Quarter Final lap.
Final
Hughes and Vergne had a little wave to one another before they set out for the final. Hughes had the advantage in the first sector, but Vergne clawed it back in the second sector. However, in the end Hughes was over two-tenths ahead at the chequered flag to take his third pole position. Vergne had the chance to equal the pole record set by Envision Racing’s Sebastien Buemi of 16, but he’ll have to wait a little longer for that one.
Semis
Vergne went up against ABT CUPRA’s Nico Mueller for the first Duel of the Semis, but a power cut for the Swiss on his lap caused drama and meant he wasn’t able to set his best lap time. The two-time champion also had his own issues with Vergne reporting that his dash was frozen and couldn’t use the lap delta as a guide but that didn’t stop him getting through to the Finals for a second consecutive race.
Then came Hughes and Pascal Wehrlein, and the NEOM McLaren driver continued his impressive run of form to get through to the Finals despite a huge slide on the final corner!
Quarters
Former teammates Nico Mueller and Robin Frijns took each other on in the first Duel. Frijns was in the Duels for the first time since reaching the final in Diriyah, and for Mueller this was the fourth consecutive race. The ABT CUPRA of Mueller was able to finish ahead, going over seven tenths quicker than the Envision Racing driver and won his first Duels of the season in the process.
Nick Cassidy and JEV were up next. With Cassidy’s appearance in the Quarter Finals it means at least one Jaguar has now reached the Duels for the past 11 consecutive races. Although the Jaguar driver was the quicker of the two, he had his lap time deleted which promoted Vergne through into the Semis.
It was then time for two race winners this season to battle it out. Sam Bird of NEOM McLaren and Pascal Wehrlein gave it their best shots, but it was the Porsche who progressed through. Wehrlein is in the Duels for the sixth time in seven races this season which is most of any driver.
Last up was the DS PENSKE of Stoffel Vandoorne and Jake Hughes. Hughes was originally fourth on the grid yesterday, but was excluded from qualifying and forced to start from the back of the pack. Hughes put on a fantastic lap to go into the Semi Finals by seventh-tenths, but by getting into the Duels Vandoorne is now the all-time leader in career Duel stage appearances with 24.
Group A
Jaguar’s Nick Cassidy went quickest in the first group, cementing himself a place in the Duels. The Kiwi driver was joined in the top four by Envision’s Robin Frijns, with the Dutchman looking speedy all day having topped Free Practice earlier in the morning. Nico Mueller made it through to the Duels for a fourth consecutive race, with Jean-Eric Vergne continuing his strong run of form at this Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli.
Yesterday's eventual race winner Oliver Rowland (Nissan) just missed out on the next stage of qualifying by finishing fifth, with Maserati MSG Racing’s Maximilian Guenther behind him in sixth.
Rowland: "I am still wondering if I am going to wake up"
Antonio Felix da Costa of Porsche had his lap time deleted in the final stages and ended the group in 11th. Misano just not going his way after having his race victory disqualified yesterday after the throttle damper spring on his car was not found in conformity with one of three optional declared items.
Group B
Jake Hughes placed down a storming lap in the last moments of the session, going fastest in all three sectors. The NEOM McLaren driver was joined at the top of the Duels by his papaya teammate Sam Bird who finished three tenths behind him in third. Pascal Wehrlein was second in the McLaren sandwich and Stoffel Vandoorne rounded out the Quarter Finalists.
Reigning Champion Jake Dennis (Andretti) was fifth but will start higher than he did in Round 6 when he started 18th, but still progressed up the field to second in the end. Yesterday’s pole sitter Jaguar's Mitch Evans had troubles and finished down in eighth.
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