Formula E: Antonio Felix da Costa takes pole for 2018 Ad Diriyah ePrix

Antonio Felix da Costa opened up the 2018-2019 Formula E season by taking the pole position for the 2018 Ad Diriyah ePrix.

BMW i Andretti Motorsport’s Antonio Felix da Costa is set to open up the 2018-2019 Formula E season from the pole position after recording an impressive lap time in what was somewhat of a wet qualifying session for the Ad Diriyah ePrix, the first of 13 races on this season’s schedule.

Da Costa took the pole position for the 45-minute race around the 21-turn, 1.550-mile (2.494-kilometer) Riyadh Street Circuit in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia by recording a top lap time of 77.728 seconds (71.789 miles per hour) in his #28 Spark-BMW.

NIO’s Tom Dillmann qualified in second place and would appear to be slated to start the race alongside da Costa on the front row of the starting grid, but he will likely be penalized as a result of a qualifying infraction he committed by completing too many laps on his own when he went out onto the track early in the session.

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Geox Dragon Racing’s Jose Maria Lopez, Nissan e.dams’s Sebastien Buemi and HWA Racelab’s Stoffel Vandoorne rounded out the top five by qualifying in third, fourth and fifth place in their #7 Spark-Penske, #23 Spark-Nissan and #5 Spark-Venturi, respectively.

Envision Virgin Racing’s Sam Bird, DS Techeetah’s Jean-Eric Vergne, Virgin Racing’s Robin Frijns, Mahindra Racing’s Jerome d’Ambrosio and Techeetah’s Andre Lotterer rounded out the top 10 by qualifying in sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth and 10th place in their #2 Spark-Audi, #25 Spark DS-Automobiles, #4 Spark-Audi, #64 Spark-Mahindra and #36 Spark DS-Automobiles, respectively.

If Dillmann does end up being penalized, these drivers, aside of da Costa and Dillmann, are all set to move up by one position on the starting grid. Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler’s Lucas di Grassi, who qualified in 11th place in his #11 Spark-Audi, would be in position to start the race in 10th.

Here are the full qualifying results for the 2018 Ad Diriyah ePrix.

Qualifying Results
1st – Antonio Felix da Costa
2nd – Tom Dillmann
3rd – Jose Maria Lopez
4th – Sebastien Buemi
5th – Stoffel Vandoorne
6th – Sam Bird
7th – Jean-Eric Vergne
8th – Robin Frijns
9th – Jerome d’Ambrosio
10th – Andre Lotterer
11th – Lucas di Grassi
12th – Mitch Evans
13th – Oliver Rowland
14th – Oliver Turvey
15th – Gary Paffett
16th – Edoardo Mortara
17th – Alexander Sims
18th – Daniel Abt
19th – Felipe Massa
20th – Nelson Piquet Jr.
21st – Maximilian Gunther
22nd – Felix Rosenqvist

Be sure not to miss the 2018-2019 Formula E season opener, the Ad Diriyah ePrix. It is set to be broadcast on Fox Sports 1 beginning at 7:30 a.m. ET later today from Riyadh Street Circuit in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia.