ePrix Long Beach – Qualifications: Buemi ahead of Abt and Prost

The weather is radiant in Long Beach for the start of the qualifications for the ePrix held on the famous American urban circuit.

Group 1

The first group for these qualifications in Long Beach is composed of five former Formula 1 drivers, including two Frenchmen Jean-Eric Vergne and Charles Pic. The latter is the first to go under a minute on this track but is beaten by less than a second by Jaime Alguersuari who registers 57.569. Shortly after, Vergne takes the lead by three tenths.

The second salvo is initiated by the Spaniard who gets within two-tenths of JEV’s time. Scott Speed comes even closer by clocking 57.400. Heidfeld improves his time but remains in fourth place, with a deficit of nearly three-tenths. Everything seems to be between Vergne and Speed for this group, with the Parisian’s improvement to 57.106 while the American achieves 57.156. The two Andretti drivers dominated this first group.

Vergne (Andretti) – 57.106

Speed (Andretti) – 57.156

Alguersuari (Virgin) – 57.449

Heidfeld (Venturi) – 57.508

Pic (China) – 57,818

Group 2

Two other Frenchmen in the second group with Loïc Duval and Nicolas Prost, the latest winner in Formula E in Miami. They are accompanied by Bruno Senna, Jarno Trulli, and Sam Bird. The Briton is the first to ignite the spark: he posts a time of 57.413 right from his first flying lap. Senna clocks 57.6 and is currently out of the race. Prost’s turn to join the battle: 57.438, a few hundredths behind the Virgin driver. The two men are still three-tenths off Vergne’s provisional fastest time. Duval and Trulli occupy the last two positions.

The second round kicks off at full speed with Bird and Prost trading best sectors, but in this little game, it’s the Frenchman who wins by clocking 56.944! He takes the provisional pole, 162 milliseconds ahead of Vergne. Bird could only close in on the two Andrettis with 57.304. Senna is in temporary 5th place with 57.347, Trulli 6th with 57.417.

Prost (e.dams) – 56.944

Bird (Virgin) – 57.304

Senna (Mahindra) – 57.347

Trulli (Trulli) – 57.417

Duval (Dragon) – 57.905

Group 3

The favorite for the pole after free practice, Lucas di Grassi, is in this group, as is Stéphane Sarrazin, the last French contender. Antonio Felix da Costa, Salvador Duran, and Nelson Piquet accompany them. Di Grassi is the first to go for a fast lap: the Brazilian completes a lap in 57.5, placing him in provisional ninth, just ahead of Piquet. Sarrazin positions himself ahead of both men, but it’s Da Costa who impresses with a time of 57.182, placing his Amlin in provisional 4th.

But from the start of the second session, Di Grassi doesn’t back down and takes the second provisional time at 57.083, more than a tenth behind Prost. Piquet slots in between the two men with 56.974 despite being hindered by Sarrazin! Da Costa manages to precede Speed’s time. Shortly after the end of this qualification session, Lucas di Grassi’s ABT Audi starts to smoke heavily while stationary, but it’s more of a scare than anything, as the problem is minor.

Piquet (China) – 56.974

Di Grassi (ABT) – 57.083

Da Costa (Amlin) – 57.149

Sarrazin (Venturi) – 57.261

Duran (Amlin) – 57.950

Group 4

Daniel Abt, Sébastien Buemi, Karun Chandhok, Jérôme D’Ambrosio, and Vitantonio Liuzzi can still challenge Nicolas Prost, the provisional poleman. In the first attempt, it’s the Belgian who comes closest to the Frenchman’s time with a lap of 57.267, just ahead of Buemi. A red flag is waved: Liuzzi severely brushed the wall and then parked in a safe spot, but the race direction takes no chances and halts the session with less than five minutes remaining.

WATCH @realliuzzi clip the wall in #LBePrix qualifying https://t.co/QLJuPmfgd4

— FIAFormulaE (@FIAformulaE) April 4, 2015

At the restart, there are only four left to challenge Nicolas Prost’s leadership. Abt sets the best second sector time in qualifying and takes provisional pole, but Buemi does even better! 56.853 for the Swiss driver, 56.937 for the German.

Buemi (e.dams) – 56.853

Abt (ABT) – 56.937

D’Ambrosio (Dragon) – 57.184

Chandhok (Mahindra) – 57.921

Liuzzi (Trulli) – 1:12.813

It’s over for these qualifying sessions, the pole is secured by Sebastian Buemi ahead of Daniel Abt and Nicolas Prost! However, caution must be exercised: indeed, the race management indicates after the session that cars no. 7 (D’Ambrosio) and no. 9 (Buemi) are under investigation by the stewards.

ePrix Long Beach 2015 – Qualifications:

1. Buemi (e.dams) – 56.853

2. Abt (ABT) – 56.937

3. Prost (e.dams) – 56.944

4. Piquet (China) – 56.974

5. Di Grassi (ABT) – 57.083

6. Vergne (Andretti) – 57.106

7. Da Costa (Amlin) – 57.149

8. Speed (Andretti) – 57.156

9. D’Ambrosio (Dragon) – 57.184

10. Sarrazin (Venturi) – 57.261

11. Bird (Virgin) – 57.304

12. Senna (Mahindra) – 57.347

13. Trulli (Trulli) – 57.417

14. Alguersuari (Virgin) – 57.449

15. Heidfeld (Venturi) – 57.508

16. Pic (China) – 57,818

17. Duval (Dragon) – 57.905

18. Chandhok (Mahindra) – 57.921

19. Duran (Amlin) – 57.950

20. Liuzzi (Trulli) – 1:12.813

Update (00:30): finally, Sebastian Buemi was penalized and had his pole position revoked. The Swiss driver will start from 10th position. Daniel Abt and Nicolas Prost will form the front row.