Moscow Formula E: Jean-Eric Vergne beats Nelson Piquet Jr to pole
Jean-Eric Vergne pipped Formula E championship leader Nelson Piquet Jr to take pole position for the Moscow ePrix
Piquet topped the first group of qualifying with a time of 1m09.449s, almost four tenths clear of his closest challenger in both the 10-minute phase and series standings, Sebastien Buemi.
The pair remained at the top until the third group, which featured Andretti Autosport driver Vergne and Lucas di Grassi.
Despite brushing a wall, Vergne went to the top with a 1m09.429s - just 0.02 seconds ahead of Piquet - while di Grassi slotted into third.
They remained the top three at the end of the session, as Vergne secured his third Formula E pole position.
Practice pacesetter Buemi was fourth, ahead of Jerome d'Ambrosio, Nicolas Prost, Daniel Abt, Nick Heidfeld, Jarno Trulli and Stephane Sarrazin.
D'Ambrosio and Sarrazin topped their respective groups.
Justin Wilson will start his maiden Formula E race in 13th place, while Antonio Felix da Costa was limited to 15th by throttle problems.
Karun Chandhok had the wildest moment of the 40 minutes of running, a 360-degree spin through the right-hand sweeper entering the back straight, on his way to the 17th-fastest time.
The 35-lap race commences at 4pm local time (2pm BST).
QUALIFYING TIMES:
Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Jean-Eric Vergne | Andretti | 1m09.429s | - |
2 | Nelson Piquet Jr. | China | 1m09.449s | 0.020s |
3 | Lucas di Grassi | Abt | 1m09.685s | 0.256s |
4 | Sebastien Buemi | e.dams | 1m09.826s | 0.397s |
5 | Jerome d'Ambrosio | Dragon | 1m09.967s | 0.538s |
6 | Nicolas Prost | e.dams | 1m10.043s | 0.614s |
7 | Daniel Abt | Abt | 1m10.075s | 0.646s |
8 | Nick Heidfeld | Venturi | 1m10.098s | 0.669s |
9 | Jarno Trulli | Trulli | 1m10.145s | 0.716s |
10 | Salvador Duran | Aguri | 1m10.257s | 0.828s |
11 | Sam Bird | Virgin | 1m10.365s | 0.936s |
12 | Justin Wilson | Andretti | 1m10.398s | 0.969s |
13 | Antonio Garcia | China | 1m10.537s | 1.108s |
14 | Antonio Felix da Costa | Aguri | 1m10.617s | 1.188s |
15 | Bruno Senna | Mahindra | 1m10.688s | 1.259s |
16 | Karun Chandhok | Mahindra | 1m10.697s | 1.268s |
17 | Jaime Alguersuari | Virgin | 1m10.941s | 1.512s |
18 | Loic Duval | Dragon | 1m11.141s | 1.712s |
19 | Vitantonio Liuzzi | Trulli | 1m11.967s | 2.538s |
- | Stephane Sarrazin | Venturi | - | - |
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