Lotterer claims Porsche’s first Formula E pole

Andre Lotterer has secured Porsche’s maiden Formula E pole position as he saw off Mitch Evans for top spot in Superpole qualifying for the Mexico City E-Prix.

After progressing through the Group qualifying in third place overall, the German driver produced the perfect lap in the shootout with a 1m 07.922s to claim provisional pole position.

Evans, who claimed the bonus point by topping Group qualifying, couldn’t repeat the feat as he notched up a 1m 07.985s leaving the Panasonic Jaguar driver in second place.

That saw Lotterer take his second career Formula E pole, his first since last year’s Rome round, and Porsche’s first-ever pole since joining the all-electric series at the start of this season.

Pascal Wehrlein managed damage limitation by qualifying in third place for Mahindra but he will still start from the back of the grid due to a gearbox grid penalty.

That promotes Nyck de Vries into third on the grid for Mercedes as he qualified ahead of experience duo Sebastien Buemi (Nissan e.dams) and Sam Bird (Envision Virgin Racing).

Robin Frijns missed out on making the Superpole session by 0.041s behind Virgin teammate Bird, but the Dutch driver will be promoted to sixth place on the starting grid due to Wehrlein’s grid penalty.

Nico Muller (Geox Dragon) jumped ahead of DS Techeetah pair Jean-Eric Vergne and Antonio Felix da Costa with current Formula E championship leader Stoffel Vandoorne completing the top 10 on the grid for Mercedes.

Daniel Abt missed qualifying for Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler following a heavy crash in the opening practice session. The German driver was taken to hospital for precautionary checks and after being given the all-clear he was on his way back to the track during qualifying.

The 2020 Mexico City E-Prix gets underway at 16:00 local time.