Cassidy claims Formula E pole in New York, Bird/Rowland collide

Nick Cassidy claimed his second ever Formula E pole position for the first of two races in New York this weekend, while Oliver Rowland and Sam Bird were involved in a bizarre collision.

Jaguar’s Bird crashed at the final corner in FP1 but his team was able to rebuild his car just in time for qualifying.

Bird complained of handling issues when he left the garage as group two commenced and he lapped three seconds slower than the pacesetter in sector one of his flying lap.

He was then collected by Rowland’s Nissan e.dams at the Turn 6/7 chicane as he tried to let him through, and the red flag was flown to stop the session.

Red flag in qualifying after this incident between @sambirdofficial and @oliverrowland1 🚩

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🇺🇸 ABB #NYCEPrix @JaguarRacing @Nissanedams pic.twitter.com/dl0r43wUcd

— ABB FIA Formula E World Championship (@FIAFormulaE) July 10, 2021

Onboard replay cameras showed something became detached on the front of Bird’s car as he approached the corner.

The session restarted and all six drivers in the group – including Bird and Rowland – were able to set a time. Rowland just missed out on superpole in eighth place while Bird was 20th fastest.

Cassidy faced no such dramas as he claimed his second FE pole, having taken pole for the second of two races in Rome earlier this year.

He beat DS Techeetah’s Jean-Eric Vergne with a 1m09.338s, 0.161s quicker than two-time champion Vergne who secured his first front row start of the season.

Alex Lynn claimed pole at the circuit when he made his Formula E debut in 2017 and he qualified in a solid third place for Mahindra in his fifth superpole appearance of the season.

Maximilian Guenther was fourth fastest for BMW Andretti ahead of Sebastien Buemi, who topped group stage qualifying. The Nissan e.dams driver was looking for his first pole in two years but ultimately ended up fifth in superpole.

Porsche’s Pascal Wehrlein was the slowest of the drivers in superpole and he’ll start from sixth place.

Audi’s Lucas di Grassi – winner last time out at Puebla – missed out on a place in superpole by just 0.013s. He’ll start from seventh, ahead of Rowland, Alexander Sims (Mahindra) and the second Porsche of Andre Lotterer.

Robin Frijns, who sits second in the championship, was 11th fastest and the highest-placed driver of the top six in the championship.

Defending series champion Antonio Felix da Costa was 13th quickest while Mitch Evans (Jaguar) and Nyck de Vries (Mercedes) were 16th and 18th respectively.

Mercedes’ Stoffel Vandoorne cost himself a place in superpole by touching the wall in the final sector of his final flying lap that left him 21st on the grid.

Championship leader Edoardo Mortara was slowest in group one as the Venturi driver was not able to get up to full power 250kW, leaving him 1.6s slower than group one pacesetter Frijns. He will line up in last place later today.

Audi’s Rene Rast had his lap compromised by Mortara and he’ll start alongside him on the back row of the grid.

Qualifying Results