Buemi takes second consecutive pole in qualifying

Sebastian Buemi has qualified on pole for the Putrajaya ePrix with a time of 1:20.196; his second consecutive pole position of the season. He was four tenths clear of Venturi’s Stephane Sarrazin who surprised with front running speed in the group stages before taking advantage of other’s mistakes in the Super Pole for 2nd on the grid.

Loic Duval was 3rd, some six tenths off Buemi’s time. He was one of the favourites for pole having set the quickest time in practice, but the track conditions were not optimal for the Dragon as they were this morning. He just managed to out-qualify Antonio Felix da Costa who put in a stunning performance to be in the Super Pole, and he took full advantage for 4th.

A scruffy lap from Nico Prost meant he was slowest in the Super Pole and left the Frenchman baffled. He struggled with locking brakes, and said after the session that he suspects a mechanical fault with the car.

Lucas di Grassi was disappointed not to be in the top 5 shoot out for pole in 6th, after he hit the wall at turn 11 on his hot lap. He was just under half a tenth quicker than Jerome D’Ambrosio, who looked strong in the first two sectors but lost half a second in the final third of the lap.

Robin Frijns impressed in 8th for Amlin Andretti, but the two Mahindras were a lowly 9th and 11th for Bruno Senna and Nick Heidfeld respectively. They were split by Daniel Abt, who said he struggled on his hot lap but believed the team is making progress with the car.

Jacques Villeneuve was 12th. He missed a lot of running in the morning practice session when his Venturi stopped on track, so it was a respectable performance from the 1997 Formula One World Champion.

Both DS Virgin drivers were surprisingly off the pace. Jean-Eric Vergne was just 13th with Sam Bird 11th. Vergne complained that the weight of the car made handling the bumps on the circuit very tricky, despite being close to the pace at the front in the first sector. Meanwhile, Bird was on the back foot after having his qualifying simulation interrupted by yellow flags in practice.

Nathanael Berthon was 15th for Aguri, ahead of one smiling NEXTEV driver and one who wasn’t. Although he missed out on out-qualifying his team mate by just half a tenth, Oliver Turvey was confident that the efficiency of the car would be proven in the race. Nelson Piquet, on the other hand, expressed his dissatisfaction with the car’s tail-happy handling. Simona de Silvestro brought up the rear of the field in 18th.

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