Formula E

Vergne on pole after incident packed super pole shootout

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Credit: Formula E

Jean-Eric Vergne is on pole position for the Santiago ePrix after a thrilling super pole shootout saw two of his rivals crash out.

Sam Bird made an early mistake on his final lap and then lost the back end while trying to make up time, causing him to slide in the barriers.

Vergne’s Techeetah team-mate Andre Lotterer then went straight into the barrier on the first corner of his super pole lap, although he was still able to crawl around the track and cross the line to ensure that he will start ahead of Bird.

It was disappointing for Lotterer after he had set a blistering time in the first section of qualifying to finish fastest.

His and Bird’s crash meant that Sebastien Buemi will start in second place despite the Swiss driver not being entirely happy with his final lap, and reigning champion Lucas di Grassi qualified in third.

Di Grassi will start in thirteenth however after his Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler team chose to change an inverter on his car to avoid the technical issues he suffered from in Marrakesh, and incurred a ten place penalty in doing so.

It was disappointment as well for championship leader Felix Rosenqvist, who simply lacked pace and could only manage fourteenth on the grid, just ahead of his Mahindra Racing team-mate Nick Heidfeld.

Nelson Piquet Jr continued Panasonic Jaguar Racing’s impressive season so far and only just missed out on super pole in sixth – although despite the strong pace shown in practice team-mate Mitch Evans will line-up in last after his lap was ruined when he locked-up.

Brits Alex Lynn and Oliver Turvey are in seventh and eighth respectively, with Nico Prost in ninth and Jose Maria Lopez continuing his impressive return to the series by qualifying in tenth.

Further down it was disappointment for Edorado Mortara who was on an impressive lap until he too locked-up going into the hairpin, which left him out of shape and subsequently lost him a significant amount of time.

He’ll start in seventeenth in between both MS&AD Andretti drivers who both made mistakes on their full power lap

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