Daniel Abt claimed a shock pole at the Mexico City ePrix only to be disqualified after officials found his tyre pressures to be too low, meaning that Oliver Turvey will line up first.
Meanwhile championship leader Sebastien Buemi could only manage tenth despite dominating both practice sessions, as a changing track led to a qualifying full of surprises.
The Frenchman was in the first qualifying group, but the track looked slippy, and he made a mistake in turn one that would see his chances of making the superpole shootout fade.
Meanwhile three of the drivers in the second qualifying group would make it into the top five, with Abt, Turvey and Jose Maria Lopez getting the best of the track conditions.
They would be joined in the shootout by Jean-Eric Vergne and Maro Engel, who put in a brilliant lap in his so far lacklustre Venturi car.
And although Abt would put in a lap a tenth and a half ahead of Turvey, his under inflated tires meant that he would be demoted to the back of the grid.
And similarly Engel’s third place would disappear as a gearbox penalty saw him demoted to thirteenth on the grid.
Lopez and Vergne were fourth and fifth respectively, and the Mahindra Racing car of Nick Heidfeld and Lopez’s DS Virgin Racing team-mate Sam Bird will line up fourth and fifth.
Elsewhere the FF Dragon Racing cars failed to live up to the promise shown in practice as Jerome d’Ambrosio only managed ninth before also suffering from a tyre pressure infringement, and a crash from Loic Duval will see him start last.
Debutant Esteban Gutierrez wasn’t able to match his team-mate’s effort as he only managed thirteenth on the grid, and the Panasonic Jaguar Racing cars managed the fourteenth and fifteenth fastest times.
It was disappointment for Lucas di Grassi however, who after stating he wanted to make amends for the victory that was taken away from him last season, could only manage a lowly eighteenth on the grid.
