Prost secures first Formula E pole at Beijing

Nicolas Prost will start the first ever Formula E ePrix from pole position, having clocked his e.Dams Renault around the Beijing street circuit in 1:42.200.

Twenty Formula E drivers are divided into four equal groups of five drivers each with each group getting 10 minutes to set a lap time. All drivers aim at completing two flying laps in qualifying with an initial banker lap and a quick final lap right at the end of their allotted time.

Prost was part of the third group of Formula E drivers and was lucky to hang on to first place after nearly running into the wall on his second run.

“This is a fantastic feeling,” said Prost. “I was a bit disappointed and unhappy with myself after I couldn’t complete the second lap. I probably pushed a bit too hard. But the first lap was good enough for pole position. I’m really happy with that! Tomorrow will be another story as energy management will be key to the race.”

Behind the Frenchman came the Audi Sport ABT duo of Lucas di Grassi and Daniel Abt with lap times that were within two tenths of Prost’s benchmark.

CHANDHOK TAKES FOURTH

Karun Chandhok would be elated to qualify in fourth place, having feared that track evolution will drop the group 1 starter outside of top 10. His Mahindra Racing teammate Bruno Senna, who was fastest in practice 2 earlier this morning, is likely to be disappointed, however, after failing to set a laptime due to a battery failure.

Franck Montagny was fifth quickest in qualifying for Andretti, with a lap time of 1:42.530 around the Beijing circuit. Venturi’s Nick Heidfeld was five hundredths of a second behind in sixth but ahead of Jaime Alguersuari’s Virgin and the second Andretti driven by Charles Pic.

Sebastian Buemi’s second flying lap ending prematurely in the barriers and his first run only yielded the Swiss driver ninth place on the Formula E grid.

PIQUET JR COMPLETES TOP TEN

Nelson Piquet Jr completed the top 10 for China Racing with a lap time of 1:42.785, ahead of Dragon Racing driven by Oriol Servià and Virgin of former F1 test driver Sam Bird.

The two female drivers - Katherine Legge (Amlin Aguri) and Michela Cerruti (Trulli) qualified in 16th and 17th places respectively on the grid as the last of the two Formula E drivers with a lap time on board.

Jarno Trulli and Stéphane Sarrazin joined Bruno Senna in the list of drivers with no classified lap time, having clipped the barriers at turn 8 during the first 10 minutes of the session.

Nicolas Prost automatically becomes the Formula E championship leader after qualifying, having claimed three points for taking pole position for today's Beijing e-Prix.

BEIJING ePRIX QUALIFYING CLASSIFICATION - Beijing Olympic Green Circuit (3.44 km)

1. Nicolas Prost (e.dams) 1m42.200s

2. Lucas di Grassi (Abt) 1m42.306s +0.106s

3. Daniel Abt (Abt) 1m42.454s +0.254s

4. Karun Chandhok (Mahindra) 1m42.461s +0.261s

5. Franck Montagny (Andretti) 1m42.530s +0.330s

6. Nick Heidfeld (Venturi) 1m42.579s +0.379s

7. Jaime Alguersuari (Virgin) 1m42.683s +0.483s

8. Charles Pic (Andretti) 1m42.726s +0.526s

9. Sebastien Buemi (e.dams) 1m42.746s +0.546s

10. Nelson Piquet (China) 1m42.785s +0.585s

11. Oriol Servia (Dragon) 1m42.847s +0.647s

12. Sam Bird (Virgin) 1m42.918s +0.718s

13. Jerome d'Ambrosio (Dragon) 1m44.056s +1.856s

14. Takuma Sato (Aguri) 1m44.129s +1.929s

15. Ho-Pin Tung (China) 1m45.282s +3.082s

16. Katherine Legge (Aguri) 1m45.369s +3.169s

17. Michela Cerruti (Trulli) 1m46.170s +3.970s

18. Jarno Trulli (Trulli) No time

19. Bruno Senna (Mahindra) No time

20. Stephane Sarrazin (Venturi) No time