Diriyah E-Prix 2: Oliver Rowland overtook Robin Frijns to seal pole for Nissan on a combined grid as after Sebastien Buemi crashed earlier.
Group A
Sacha Fenestraz was the first to start at the Diriyah circuit and the Nissan driver started the race with a slow 1:22. 976, twelve seconds less than Mitch Evans’ best time in FP3 a few hours ago.
Qualifying Results – 2024 Diriyah E-Prix 2
Halfway through, after everyone had set a representative time, it was Evans on top with a 1:11.276, two tenths up on Robin Frijns while Nyck de Vries and Fenestraz completed the provisional top four.
Fenestraz was the first to come out of the pits and had the track to himself for a few minutes, allowing him to set a time of 1:10. 848 to take the lead with a few minutes remaining.
Everyone took a step forward in their final laps and almost all the driving forces were faster than those in front of them, so those at the front of the queue and made it to the most sensible 4 were temporarily relegated and in the end it was Fenestraz who took P1 with a 1:10. 641 with Frijns. and the DS Penske of Jean-Eric Vergne and Stoffel Vandoorne, two tenths behind the Nissan driver in the other duels.
Pascal Wehrlein, Maximilian Guenther, Evans and Norman Nato who took part in yesterday’s duels finished P5, P7 and P10.
Group B
Maserati’s Jehan Daruvala was the first out as the second group got underway, the Indian driver started with a 1:18.159 and after fast laps were on the board for all drivers it was Oliver Rowland in P1 with a 1:10.784 ahead of Jake Hughes, Daruvala and Sebastien Buemi.
Cassidy arrived first at the chequered flag and moved up to P2 just before the red flag came out when Buemi hit the wall in T2. The Driver of Vision
This meant that most of the Group B members were unable to complete their final fastest lap and it ended with Rowland in P1 with a time of 1:10. 486, with Cassidy, Hughes and Daruvala completing the maximum of four.
Dennis finished the organization stages in P8, but said his car was “the worst I’ve ever driven in Formula E” and felt he wouldn’t have made it even without the red flag. Thus, among the participants in yesterday’s duel, only Vergne and Cassidy managed to get out of there.
Quarter-finals: Vergne vs Frijns, Vandoorne vs Fenestraz, Hughes vs Cassidy, Daruvala vs Rowland
There was a slight delay before the start of the duels to allow Buemi’s car to be cleared and the barrier repaired.
QF1: When the first duel did get underway it was a close run thing. Less than a tenth between the drivers in sector one, with Frijns taking the slight advantage, The Dutch driver extended that over the following two sectors and so yesterday’s polesitter was defeated in his first duel today.
QF2: Unlike the first duel, Vandoorne had clear merit in this one, with the Penske driver a moment ahead of the Nissan driver in the first sector, as Fenestraz didn’t take his first corner. Fenestraz is the fastest in the last sector so far. It will be Vandoorne who will keep Penske in the hunt for pole.
QF3: Cassidy was almost two tenths ahead of the McLaren driver in the early part of the lap. The New Zealander was in the mix, winning the duel for good, six tenths ahead of Hughes.
QF4: At the start, things were tight with less than a tenth of a moment between the driving forces, but Rowland put his foot down in sector 1 to take a two-tenths lead, Maserati’s driving force dropped back a bit in the middle, but Rowland had a great last sector to set the fastest time of the day, a 1:10. 149.
Semi-finals: Frijns – Vandoorne, Cassidy – Rowland
SF1: Initially there was nothing in it but Frijns did then pull a tenth and a half over Vandoorne, the Envision driver kept pushing despite sliding around the track, in true Frijns style, and took the win by two tenths.
SF2: It was tight in sector 1, but Rowland had the advantage, the lap was close between the two drivers, but the Nissan driver is a pole position specialist and won in 1:10. 098.
Endgame: Frijns vs. Rowland
Rowland was fastest in the first sector, just over a tenth ahead of Frijns. The two were very evenly matched in the midsection, so the gap remained stable, but the Nissan driver went through the final corners further and further up the gap to almost 3. Tenths to seal his sixth pole position and his first editions of the season.
Cassidy will be in P3 with Vandoorne by his side, a strong Daruvala qualifying will see him start in P5 ahead of Hughes, while Fenestraz and Vergne will share the fourth row. As Rowland starts in Group B, this means that the other members of that organisation will occupy the remaining positions on the grid, so Sette Camara will start in ninth position ahead of Wehrlein.
Buemi would have been ninth but, as he caused the red flag, his most productive time was cancelled, so if his car is repaired in time, he will start 11th.
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