Andrea PerilliLocal driver Daniel Abt will start the 2018 Berlin ePrix from Pole Position, after a Super Pole where precision was key to achieve a good starting result.
Cars went out to qualify under a bright sun and at a time rather uncommon for the typical Formula E schedule –two hours later than usual.
Group 1, with Turvey, Abt, Lotterer, Piquet Jr., and Evans fighting for a chance to make it to Super Pole, had minor incidents, as Germany’s André Lotterer kissed the wall but was able to continue on his run on a straight.
Local driver Daniel Abt finished first on his group, followed by NIO’s Oliver Turvey, Jaguar Racing’s Mitch Evans and Nelson Piquet Jr., and André Lotterer completed the group. The TECHEETAH driver had a 10-place penalty, after his incident with Sam Bird in Paris last month.
José María López, Alex Lynn, Antonio Felix da Costa, Nick Heidfeld, and Maro Engel were the drivers in Group 2. Early into their 5-minute run, Alex Lynn climbed up to P3. “Pechito” López moved up to P5, displacing Piquet Jr. and Lotterer from the Top 5.
What seemed like a good lap to enter the Top 5 by Nick Heidfeld, did not work, as the German briefly kissed the wall, and could not improve more than a seventh place. Engel finished his run in P6, while Antonio Felix da Costa ended in P9.
In Group 3, Nico Prost, Tom Dillmann, Luca Filippi, Jérôme d’Ambrosio, and Stéphane Sarrazin fought for a spot in Super Pole. D’Ambrosio was the better placed driver of his group, as he was in P2 –a mayor improvement considering his struggles in the early stages of the season.
Tom Dillmann qualified in P6, ahead of his Venturi teammate Maro Engel. Sarrazin finished in P11, whereas Filippi and Prost finished in P14 and P15, respectively.
Group 4 was the most anticipated one. Di Grassi, Buemi, Rosenqvist, Vergne, and Bird were in this group. This coincides with the current Top 5 in the Drivers’ Championship standings.
Sébastien Buemi briefly entered the Top 5, but was displaced by di Grassi and Vergne, who positioned themselves P1 and P2, respectively. Felix Rosenqvist qualified in P6, one position ahead of Buemi. Sam Bird could not manage to have a good lap, qualifying in P10.
The five drivers to take part in Super Pole were Oliver Turvey, Jérôme d’Ambrosio, Daniel Abt, Jean-Éric Vergne, and Lucas di Grassi. The Brit would be the first one to go out on track.
D’Ambrosio’s lap could not match Turvey’s, and the Belgian subsequently ended up in P2, partially.
Abt climbed up to P1, with a lap time of 1:09.472. Supporters’ flags were waved from the Schaeffler-sponsored grandstand as the local driver drove by. A series of minor mistakes caused Vergne to qualify in P4, behind Abt and Turvey, impeding him from scoring back-to-back pole Positions.
Di Grassi ran wide, which relegated him to P5. However, in the Audi garage it wasn’t all bad news, as Daniel Abt was able to grab Pole Position.
Qualifying also saw Oliver Turvey back at the front row, starting from P2. Vergne and d’Ambrosio would start from P3 and P4, respectively.
With the race shaping up to be an exciting one, having a local driver starting in Pole Position adds even more excitement to the event.
Super Pole:
Pos Forename Surname Gap 1 Daniel ABT 01:09.472 2 Oliver TURVEY 0.263 3 Jean-Eric VERGNE 0.519 4 Jérôme D'AMBROSIO 0.582 5 Lucas DI GRASSI 1.026
Group Classification:
Pos Forename Surname Gap 1 Lucas DI GRASSI 01:09.620 2 Jean-Eric VERGNE 0.145 3 Daniel ABT 0.154 4 Jérôme D'AMBROSIO 0.318 5 Oliver TURVEY 0.323 6 Felix ROSENQVIST 0.331 7 Sébastien BUEMI 0.374 8 Alex LYNN 0.382 9 Mitch EVANS 0.467 10 Sam BIRD 0.467 11 José Maria LOPEZ 0.485 12 Tom DILLMANN 0.594 13 Maro ENGEL 0.628 14 Nick HEIDFELD 0.644 15 Nelson PIQUET 0.650 16 Stéphane SARRAZIN 0.695 17 Antonio Felix DA COSTA 0.797 18 André LOTTERER 0.978 19 Luca FILIPPI 0.981 20 Nicolas PROST 0.998
Bethonie Waring
