Putrajaya ePrix – Qualification: Prost secures pole but must yield to Servia

While Sam Bird had shown the fastest pace during free practice for the Putrajaya ePrix, the Briton was unable to confirm that in qualifying, allowing Nicolas Prost (e.dams-Renault) to secure his second pole position of the season – after Beijing.

But with his 10-place grid penalty following the collision at the end of the race in Beijing with Nick Heidfeld, Nicolas Prost will eventually start from 11th position on the grid, thus leaving the pole position on the starting grid to Spanish driver Oriol Servia (Dragon Racing).

The Frenchman was nonetheless satisfied with his qualifying session because he achieved the goal he had set for himself: « My objective was to secure pole position in order to start in 11th position, and that’s what we did. The pole in Beijing was a bit of a surprise, but here it’s really nice. We will have to see how the race unfolds, the fastest lap would also be a good thing, but overall, I am happy with the result and my performance. »

Jérôme d’Ambrosio had made a name for himself by securing the front row with his teammate Oriol Servia, but the Belgian was ultimately penalized for excessive power usage. D’Ambrosio was consequently pushed to the back of the grid.

Servia, for his part, was delighted to be able to start from pole position: « It was a fantastic job by the team, they worked very hard. Obviously, it’s the best starting position and we are excited before the race. Having experience on city circuits clearly helped. »

For their first appearance in Formula E, Matthew Brabham (Andretti) and Antonio Felix da Costa (Amlin Aguri) managed to qualify in the top 10.

Starting grid ranking for the Putrajaya ePrix