Sims beats Mercedes chargers to Diriyah E-Prix pole

BMW Andretti's Alexander Sims opened up Formula E's 2019-20 festivities with pole position for the season-opening Diriyah E-Prix in Saudi Arabia.

In the Super Pole six-car shootout, Sims edged the impressive Mercedes pair of Stoffel Vandoorne and rookie Nyck de Vries, while Venturi's Edoardo Mortara, Virgin Racing's Sam Bird and Mahindra's Jérôme d'Ambrosio rounded off the top six.

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In the lead up to Super Pole, a dirty and sandy track put the drivers from Group 1 at a disadvantage in qualifying, a state of affairs that left reigning FE champion Jean-Eric Vergne down the order and P11 in the final qualifying standings.

As the track improved, Bird led a rapid Group 2 from d'Ambrosio and Porsche's André Lotterer while Vandoorne topped the times of the third and final group.

Sims would go on to scoop up the Julius Baer Pole Position by 0.276s from Vandoorne, with de Vries 0.366s adrift from the BMW Andretti driver.

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