Da Costa stripped of Long Beach Formula E pole, Bird inherits it
Antonio Felix da Costa has been disqualified from qualifying for the Long Beach ePrix, handing Sam Bird pole position
Team Aguri driver da Costa had stunned in season-one machinery to land his first series pole, but his car's tyre pressures were found to be illegal after the session.
Tyre supplier Michelin provides a working-range guide for each meeting and the event stewards reported the "minimum hot tyre pressure was not 1.60 bar", breaching article 25.1 of the sporting regulations.
Da Costa felt the victory was a realistic target immediately after qualifying, but will now start the race at the back of the grid and faces a tough task just to score points.
The Portuguese driver is 10th in the Formula E standings with 16 points, having lost two podium positions - in Putrajaya and Buenos Aires - to mechanical problems this season.
Bird will now start from pole for the second time in three races as he looks to add to his lights-to-flag victory in Buenos Aires, and also inherits the three points for pole.
Abt Audi Sport driver Lucas di Grassi moves onto the front row.
Champion Nelson Piquet Jr has picked up a 10-place grid penalty, after being forced to change a motor for the second time this season.
Because the NEXTEV TCR driver only qualified 15th he will start second-from-last and have to serve an additional 10-second penalty during the mandatory car swaps.
Be part of the Autosport community
Join the conversationShare Or Save This Story
The driver who can wreck F1's "super exciting" 2020 silly season
Red Bull's Verstappen now has basis for first F1 title challenge
Ferrari: Mick Schumacher a good candidate for seat in Formula 1
Bird: Imminent Formula E victories “not expected again” ahead of Tokyo E-Prix
Bird: McLaren's maiden Formula E win in Sao Paulo "one of the more special"
How Bird's crash recovery became Formula E's fairytale of New York
How real-time scrutineering ensures fair and consistent competition in motorsport
How MotoGP brakes work: Secrets of stopping a 220mph bike
Hyundai enacts contingency plan after WRC Kenya fuel issue
Vanwall working on 2025 WEC comeback with heavily-revised Hypercar
How Porsche won, lost and won in Misano Formula E mayhem
How Guenther’s patience provided his Tokyo Formula E triumph
How brilliant Bird survived the heat to end Formula E win drought in Sao Paulo
How Cassidy surprised himself to storm to Formula E's summit in Saudi
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments