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Maserati MSG Racing’s Maximilian Gunther has taken the second pole position of his Formula E career in as many days, after once again dominating qualifying for the Jakarta E-Prix.
The German scored his maiden Formula E pole yesterday for Race 1o, going back to back in Race 11 qualifying after setting a time (1:07.753) more half a second ahead of Avalanche Andretti’s Jake Dennis on 1:08.338 in the final.
“Amazing feeling, proud about this progress in the season we [Maserati] have been having been amazing,” said Gunther.
“Yeah, it’s a lot about small details that what we are looking for with the team … we kept cool and it’s coming together … more and more.”
Nissan’s Sacha Fenestraz started off the Group A qualifying, posting the first flying time of 1:08.798s.
Dennis then went to the top with a 1:08.737s before current championship leader Nick Cassidy went quickest with a 1:08.623s with eight minutes to remaining in the session.
Mitch Evans slipped into fourth with six minutes to go, only 0.256s off the pace.
Dan Ticktum spun on the dusty Jakarta circuit coming out of the final corner, aborting his flying lap that had seen a personal best first sector, leaving him in seventh with a 1:09.096s.
In the closing stages of the session, Fenestraz improved on his lap by 0.326s to move him into first with a 1:08.472s and Jake Hughes slotted into second place with a quick lap of 1:08.600s.
As the chequered flag fell, it was Dennis who finally took the top spot with a 1:08.434s, with the biggest upset of the Group A qualifying being Cassidy, who would again miss out on proceeding to the Duels for the second time this weekend.
Mitch Evans went third fastest with a 1:08.521s and left the Envision Racing driver in fifth, 0.189s off the pace.
Yesterday’s race winner Pascal Wehrlein was the first on the timing board in Group B with a 1:08.641s but it was his TAG Heuer Porsche team-mate Antonio Felix da Costa who took top spot with a 1:08.609s.
Edo Mortara then went quickest with a 1:08.602s with seven minutes to go, while Gunther, who topped Free Practice 3 earlier in the day, was 0.106s off the pace down in fifth.
On the next flying lap, Gunther continued his dominant form around the Jakarta layout and went fastest with five minutes to go, a 1:08.564s time making it a Maserati MSG Racing one-two.
The Duel positions in Group B were separated by just over 0.045s as Vandoorne improved to move into third place with a 1:08.606s.
As the chequered flag was waved, an improvement for Gunther kept him in the top spot with a 1:08.416s.
Wehrlein solidified third with a 1:08.516s and as his team-mate da Costa aborted his final lap, leaving Vandoorne to sneak into the last Duel spot with a 1:08.602s.
The Duels
The first Duel between Evans and Fenestraz went the way of the Jaguar TCS Racing driver, his time of 1:08.229s nearly half a second ahead, pushing him through to the Semi-Finals.
Even with a slight mistake into the final corner, Dennis’ time of 1:08.313s saw him ahead of Neom McLaren’s Hughes to the next battle.
Wehrlein and Mortara in the next Duel were evenly matched but it was the Maserati MSG driver who went through with a 1:08.245s.
His team-mate Gunther took the win in Quarter Final 4 ahead of reigning champion Vandoorne with the fastest lap of the weekend at the time, a 1:07.939s.
Dennis and Evans started the first Semi-Final of the session where the Avalanche Andretti driver snatched the victory by 0.001s at the flag with a 1:08.076s.
A team-mate Semi-Final Duel between the Maserati MSG drivers saw Gunther again ascend with a time of 1:08.101s, for a rematch of yesterday’s Race 10 qualifying final.
Gunther proved unstoppable to take his second consecutive pole – the second of his career – by more than half a second with his time of 1:07.753s, the Maserati MSG driver having topped every timed session of the Jakarta double-header weekend.
After starting from pole yesterday, Gunther came home third in Race 10 behind Wehrlein and Dennis.
The second race of the Jakarta E-Prix weekend will begin at 15:03 local time/18:03 AEST.
