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Sims steals final Pole of the season in New York

Alexander Sims will start the final race of Season Five in New York from pole position.

The British driver took his first pole of the season as he topped the Super Pole session ahead of Robin Frijns, with a time just 0.095 quicker than the Dutchman.

The first qualifying group saw the four remaining title contenders battle it out for provisional pole.

Yesterday’s race winner Sebastien Buemi set the benchmark time of 1:10.003 for Nissan e.Dams, with Jaguar’s Mitch Evans just six hundredths of a second adrift in second. 

In Group Two, Audi’s Daniel Abt and both Envision Virgin’s all set purple sector on their quick laps; Abt topped the time-sheets with a 1:09.902, while both Robin Frijns and Sam Bird were within 0.023 seconds of the German.

As a result, points leader Jean-Eric Vergne and Antonio Felix da Costa were out of the running for Super Pole. Elsewhere, Andre Lotterer lost fourth tenths in the middle sector, eventually finishing the session in 20th. 

BMW i Andretti Motorsport’s Alexander Sims then set the fastest Q1 time with his time of a 1:09.690, while Stoffel Vandoorne moved into second. This was enough to drop title contenders Evans and Lucas di Grassi out of contention for Super Pole.  

Felipe Massa failed to set a competitive time, after he locked up under braking and went down the escape road. 

The final group saw HWA’s Gary Paffett looking likely to take the final spot in Super Pole and perhaps eliminate Buemi in the process. Instead, he was held up by the NIO of Tom Dillman on the racing line which cost him valuable time.

Consequently, Paffett could only manage ninth and missed out on Super Pole. 

The second Jaguar of Alex Lynn was the slowest driver out of those to complete a lap in 21st. However, Lynn has a 20-place grid penalty for a component change and will start the race from 22nd as a result.  

Moving on to Super Pole, and Buemi knew he had to secure pole to have a chance of becoming champion. With this in mind, the Swiss driver put down the gauntlet with a respectable time of 1:09.729. 

Next to go out was Bird, who went fastest in the first sector. However, a lock up at Turn 9 would prove costly as he ended up one and a half tenths slower. 

Frijns was the third driver to do their lap. Despite brushing the wall, the Dutchman pipped Buemi to provisional pole by 0.017 seconds, and ended the latter’s title hopes.  

Neither Vandoorne or Abt could get close to Frijns, which left Sims as the only driver that quick ruin the party for Envision Virgin. 

The BMW driver repeated his Q1 performance, going fastest in all three sectors to claim the final pole position of the Formula E season. 

Out of those still in the championship picture, Mitch Evans is the best placed in eighth. Meanwhile, Lucas di Grassi and Jean-Eric Vergne will line up alongside each other on the sixth row of the grid. 

Provisional Qualifying Results 

Alexander Sims, BMW i Andretti Autosport, 1:09.617
Robin Frijns, Envision Virgin Racing, +0.095
Sebastien Buemi, Nissan e.dams, +0.112
Sam Bird, Envision Virgin Racing, +0.278
Stoffel Vandoorne, HWA Racelab, +0.377
Daniel Abt, Audi Sport Abt Schaeffler, +0.479
Oliver Rowland, Nissan e.dams, 1:10.052 (Q1)
Mitch Evans, Jaguar Racing, +0.011
Gary Paffett, HWA Racelab, +0.103
Edoardo Mortara, Venturi, +0.165
Lucas di Grassi, Audi Sport Abt Schaeffler, +0.203
Jean-Eric Vergne, DS Techeetah, +0.226
Jose Maria Lopez, Dragon, +0.300
Antonio Felix da Costa, BMW i Andretti Autosport, +0.317
Oilver Turvey, NIO, +0.387
Jerome d’Ambrosio, Mahindra Racing, +0.452
Tom Dillmann, NIO, +0.521
Pascal Wehrlein, Mahindra Racing, +0.522
Maximilian Guenther, Dragon, +0.601
Andre Lotterer, DS Techeetah, +0.647
Felipe Massa, Venturi, Not Classified
Alex Lynn, Jaguar Racing, +2.485 (Grid Penalty)

Aaron Lloyd Collins

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