Jean-Eric Vergne is set to start the 2018-2019 Formula E season’s ninth race, the Monaco ePrix, from the pole position after Oliver Rowland was penalized.
Nissan e.dams’ Oliver Rowland originally took the pole position for the Monaco ePrix, which is the ninth of 13 races on the 2018-2019 Formula E schedule, but as a result of a three-position grid penalty that he was issued following the most recent race, the Paris ePrix, he is set to surrender the pole position.
As a result, DS Techeetah’s Jean-Eric Vergne is set to start this 45-minute race around the 12-turn, 1.096-mile (1.765-kilometer) Circuit de Monaco temporary street circuit in Monte Carlo, Monaco from the pole position in his #25 Spark DS-Automobiles.
Vergne has not started a race from the pole position yet this season and is set to become the eighth different polesitter through the season’s first nine races.
Rowland originally took the pole position for this race by recording a top lap time of 50.021 seconds (78.879 miles per hour) in his #22 Spark-Nissan in the Super Pole qualifying session.
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Vergne originally qualified in second place by recording a top lap time of 50.042 seconds (78.846 miles per hour) in the Super Pole qualifying session. His top lap time was only 0.021 seconds (0.033 miles per hour) slower than that of Rowland.
Given Rowland’s three-position grid penalty, Panasonic Jaguar Racing’s Mitch Evans was set to start alongside Vergne on the front row after qualifying in third place . However, Evans himself was issued a 10-position grid penalty following the qualifying session and is set to start the race in 12th in his #20 Spark-Jaguar, promoting Mahindra Racing’s Pascal Wehrlein to second on the starting grid after originally qualifying in fourth in his #94 Spark-Mahindra.
Meanwhile, instead of his three-position grid penalty dropping him to fourth place, Rowland is only set to be demoted to third on the starting grid as a result of the penalty that was issued to Evans.
Geox Dragon Racing’s Maximilian Gunther, Mahindra Racing’s Jerome d’Ambrosio and Venturi’s Edoardo Mortara were also penalized after qualifying in 14th, 17th and 19th place in their #6 Spark-Penske, #64 Spark-Mahindra and #48 Spark-Venturi, respectively. They are set to start the race in 22nd, 19th and 21st, respectively.
Here is the provisional starting grid for the 2019 Monaco ePrix at Circuit de Monaco.
Starting Grid
1st – Jean-Eric Vergne
2nd – Pascal Wehrlein
3rd – Oliver Rowland
4th – Felipe Massa
5th – Sebastien Buemi
6th – Alexander Sims
7th – Alex Lynn
8th – Antonio Felix da Costa
9th – Jose Maria Lopez
10th – Stoffel Vandoorne
11th – Robin Frijns
12th – Mitch Evans
13th – Lucas di Grassi
14th – Sam Bird
15th – Oliver Turvey
16th – Daniel Abt
17th – Gary Paffett
18th – Tom Dillmann
19th – Jerome d’Ambrosio
20th – Andre Lotterer
21st – Edoardo Mortara
22nd – Maximilian Gunther
Be sure not to miss the Monaco ePrix, which is the ninth race of the 13-race 2018-2019 Formula E season, later this morning.