Jean-Eric Vergne took his second pole position in Formula E at Miami as some key title contenders stumbled and the top 13 cars were separated by less than a second.
His team Andretti Autosport have also been promoting the street race at Biscayne Bay, and so can rightly be delighted that their French driver set the fastest lap in the third group of cars despite locking up into turn 5.
His new teammate Scott Speed was also the most impressive of this weekend’s debutants in 11th, but should have gone faster if not caught behind Lucas di Grassi preparing for his own lap. The championship leader will have wanted better than 7th, beaten by main title rivals Nicolas Prost and Sam Bird, plus his regularly-unlucky teammate Daniel Abt.
At least di Grassi was well ahead of other rival Sebastién Buemi, the Swiss spinning at turn 4 on his crucial second lap and caught in the midfield in 14th, which could be dangerous for him at the start going into the tight turn 1.
The only other important incident was Karun Chandhok clipping the wall and being forced to persevere with a crabbing car; the Indian still managed 16th, but Mahindra’s bad luck continued with Bruno Senna only able to reach 17th on the grid.
China Racing’s Nelson Piquet Jr. was at the front again and but for an oversteering moment going through turn 6 could have snatched pole from Vergne, instead he will start 7th because of a five-place grid penalty from the last race. Ho-Pin Tung’s replacement Charles Pic wasn’t close to the Brazilian, and will occupy the opposite end of the grid along with other newbie Loïc Duval in the Dragon Racing car.
Vergne and Prost obviously have the biggest advantage for the race, holding track position on a tight and unforgiving track, but that same nature could cause the same chaos we saw in Buenos Aires back in January (that race’s winner, Antonio Felix da Costa, starts 18th in a change of fortunes.)
Miami ePrix Qualifying Results
1 Jean-Eric Vergne Andretti Autosport 1:05.953
2 Nelson Piquet Jr China Racing +0.050
3 Nicolas Prost e-Dams +0.214
4 Sam Bird Virgin Racing +0.217
5 Daniel Abt Audi Sport ABT +0.302
6 Stephane Sarrazin Venturi +0.436
7 Lucas di Grassi Audi Sport ABT +0.471
8 Jerome d’Ambrosio Dragon Racing +0.549
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