Abt takes Berlin Formula E pole, but investigation looms
Daniel Abt scored pole position for both his and the Audi team's home Formula E race in Berlin on Saturday afternoon, but is at risk of losing it as an investigation looms for a power irregularity through the qualifying heats.
Abt was able to make it through to the Super Pole shootout despite a track disadvantage by featuring in the opening group, and then turned in a stunning final lap of 1m09.472s to top the timesheets in the final fight for pole.
Daniel Abt scored pole position for both his and the Audi team's home Formula E race in Berlin on Saturday afternoon, but is at risk of losing it as an investigation looms for a power irregularity through the qualifying heats.
Abt was able to make it through to the Super Pole shootout despite a track disadvantage by featuring in the opening group, and then turned in a stunning final lap of 1m09.472s to top the timesheets in the final fight for pole.
Abt's time was two-tenths of a second quicker than closest rival Oliver Turvey, but the German driver is at risk of having pole stripped away due to an ongoing investigation from the stewards regarding his power usage.
The stewards confirmed after Abt's initial Group 1 time that he was under investigation for a possible early shift up to 200kW, which is not permitted until the final sector of the lap before beginning his hot lap.
Abt was joined in the Super Pole shootout by teammate Lucas di Grassi, who despite topping the initial heats could only qualify fifth after losing the rear-end of his car through the middle sector, costing him time.
Championship leader Jean-Eric Vergne slotted into third behind Abt and Turvey, with Jerome d'Ambrosio qualifying fourth for Dragon, while title contender Felix Rosenqvist finished 0.008s off a Super Pole berth in sixth.
Sebastien Buemi qualified seventh for Renault ahead of DS Virgin drivers Alex Lynn and Sam Bird in P8 and P10 respectively, with the duo split by Jaguar's Mitch Evans in ninth.
Jose Maria Lopez will line up 11th later today ahead of Tom Dillmann, who returns to the series in place of Edoardo Mortara at Venturi as the Swiss racer focuses on DTM duties today. Teammate Maro Engel wound up P13 ahead of Mahindra's Nick Heidfeld and Jaguar's Nelson Piquet Jr, with the Andretti pair of Antonio Felix da Costa and Stephane Sarrazin following in 16th and 17th.
Andre Lotterer hit the wall during his hot lap, leaving him 18th in the final classification and with a 10-place penalty still to serve, dropping him to the rear behind Luca Filippi and Nicolas Prost, who propped up the timesheets in qualifying.
