Formula E: Robin Frijns wins pole for Race 2

Only because both Mercedes cars and customer powertrain team Venturi Racing were not allowed onto the track while the FIA waited to more firmly diagnose the cause of the crash of Edoardo Mortara did Robin Frijns (shown above) win pole for Formula E Race 2 in Saudi Arabia.

Having been fastest in Practice 3, the Envision Virgin Racing driver was last to run in the superpole contest and ran a 1m07.889s lap to take pole by 0.289s for Sergio Sette Camara.

No one else was really close.

Jaguar Racing’s Sam Bird finished in third place in his Jaguar.

“It feels really good compared to yesterday after we started dead last,” said Frijns. “I really didn’t expect it prior to jumping in the car in FP3. We had a long night yesterday and a lot of work’s been put in and it’s worked out.

“I’m really happy with the car and what the team did last night. It’s the best position. Sam and I will have fun. We know each other really well and hopefully we can play a bit! It’s a lot of fun out there, but very tricky. If you put one wheel outside the single racing line, that’s it – you’re off. There’s no room for any mistakes.”

“I’m very happy with that,” added Sette Camara. “Yesterday I felt like we had the potential to be in Super Pole. It’s hard for everyone to believe after Berlin and I really wanted to prove to everyone that DRAGON can be up there.

“We proved to be quick with both cars making Super Pole and we both showed rhythm despite a group advantage. We don’t have the new powertrain yet, and we decided to go with that in Rome, so that’ll be a disadvantage in the race along with my experience. It’s not my strongest point but I’m trying to improve and anything can happen!”

Oliver Turvey had looked super quick through the final sector on his hot-lap and made up for a small error through the opening third of the lap to stick his NIO 333 on provisional pole by 0.6 seconds over Nico Mueller’s early benchmark. The pair wound up fourth and sixth respectively, split by Turvey’s teammate Tom Blomqvist to make it two NIOs in the top six.

Group Qualifying drama

Before the session, Race Control passed down the ruling that Mercedes-EQ and ROKiT Venturi Racing would not be allowed to enter the track during the qualifying session with the FIA mandating a thorough investigation into the incident involving Edo Mortara during FP3.

In Group 1, minus the Mercedes powered cars, Mitch Evans (Jaguar Racing) and Rene Rast (Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler) missed their chance at a lap in dramatic fashion – leaving Team Principals James Barclay and Allan McNish furious in their respective garages.

“I’m very happy with that,” added Sette Camara. “Yesterday I felt like we had the potential to be in Super Pole. It’s hard for everyone to believe after Berlin and I really wanted to prove to everyone that DRAGON can be up there.

“We proved to be quick with both cars making Super Pole and we both showed rhythm despite a group advantage. We don’t have the new powertrain yet, and we decided to go with that in Rome, so that’ll be a disadvantage in the race along with my experience. It’s not my strongest point but I’m trying to improve and anything can happen!”

Oliver Turvey had looked super quick through the final sector on his hot-lap and made up for a small error through the opening third of the lap to stick his NIO 333 on provisional pole by 0.6 seconds over Nico Mueller’s early benchmark. The pair wound up fourth and sixth respectively, split by Turvey’s teammate Tom Blomqvist to make it two NIOs in the top six.

Group Qualifying drama

Before the session, Race Control passed down the ruling that Mercedes-EQ and ROKiT Venturi Racing would not be allowed to enter the track during the qualifying session with the FIA mandating a thorough investigation into the incident involving Edo Mortara during FP3.

In Group 1, minus the Mercedes-powered cars, Mitch Evans (Jaguar Racing) and Rene Rast (Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler) missed their chance at a lap in dramatic fashion – leaving Team Principals James Barclay and Allan McNish furious in their respective garages.

Race 2 Qualifying Results