Jarno Trulli
reversed Trulli GP’s
fortunes in the most dramatic
way possible by taking pole position
for the inaugural Berlin ePrix ahead of
Lucas di Grassi and Sebastien Buemi.
Trully set his pole time early in the
session when the track was at its most
green – providing a nervous wait for the
Pescaran whilst the other groups
attempted to challenge his stunning
time.
Group 1 comprised Trulli, Piquet Jr,
Liuzzi, Senna and Da Costa. Piquet Jr set the initial pace in Group 1, clipping an inner kerb as he pushed for a fast time. But Trulli took provisional pole with 5 minutes of the first session left with a stunning lap of 1min21.547. His team-mate Liuzzi also looked good out on track, setting a time of 1min22.065, to claim provisional P2.
With 1min to go, the order was TRU LIU PIQ SEN DAC. Liuzzi improved in the closing seconds with a time of 1min22.032 but didn’t challenge his team-mate for the top spot.
The order after Q1 was TRU LIU PIQ SEN
DAC, with the track seemingly rubbering in.
After a short break, Group 2’s Speed, Alguersuari, Sarrazin, Vergne and Duran went out for their 10minute Qualifying run. With over half the session’s time spent, Venturi’s Sarrazin split the Trulli drivers to claim P2 provisionally.
Both Andretti drivers were 4th and 5th, pushing Piquet Jr down to 6th. Vergne claimed 3rd in closing stages to push Liuzzi out of the Top 3 holding pen. Trulli remained on Pole. At half way point the order was: TRU, SAR, VER, LIU, SPE, PIQ,
ALG, DUR,
SEN and DAC.
Group 3 of Pic, di Grassi, Prost, D’Ambrosio, Heidfeld (which included
the Top 2 drivers in the championship leaderboard) were expected to upset the order considerably…. and they didn’t disappoint: Di Grassi took P2 with
less than one tenth off Trulli’s
pace at 1min21.623 and Heidfeld
was 1min21.710. At the end of
Group 3’s running, the order
was TRU DIG HEI DAM
PRO SAR VER LIU
The Final Qualifying group included Monaco ePrix winner Buemi and the remaining drivers yet to run: Chandhok, Bird, Abt and Duval. After 5 minutes of running, Buemi was the only one from Group 4 who has penetrated the Top 3 position. Sam Bird was still at the bottom of the grid with 3 minutes to go after he locked up. Abt set the fastest 1st sector but could only manage a time of 1min21.754 (P5).
The Provisional Grid for the Berlin ePrix: TRU DIG BUE HEI ABT DAM PRO DUV SAR VER LIU SPE PIQ ALG BIR DUR PIC SEN DAC CHA
This was Jarno Trulli and the Trulli’s Team’s first pole position in FormulaE – quite a reversal of fortune from Monaco when both drivers were drawn in Group 4 and didn’t have a good race weekend. Pole for Trulli also comes exactly 11 years after his secured pole at Monaco in Formula 1 on May 23rd.
Car 3 was temporarily under investigation (for weaving/obstructing Sarazzin during Q1 and potentially costing the Frenchman pole) but no further action was taken against the young Spaniard.
Berlin Qualifying
Image:FIA Formula E