BMW's Sims on Pole for Championship final, title battle still wide open

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BMW's Sims on Pole for Championship final, title battle still wide open

BMW's Sims on Pole for Championship final, title battle still wide open  

In a key Qualifying session ahead of the make or break final race of the season, BMW i Andretti Motorsport's Alex Sims clinched Pole while defending champion and firm favourite Jean-Eric Vergne will start the race in 12th - outside of a points position. His main challenger Lucas di Grassi will start the race one place ahead of him in. Here's how it all happened.

Leading the pack in the final race of the 2018/19 season of the ABB FIA Formula E Championship is BMW i Andretti Motorsport's Alex Sims. The Brit is followed by Envision Virgin Racing's Robin Frijns in second. 

For Nissan e.dams' Sebastien Buemi, the former champ's hopes of a second title are over after the Swiss driver failed to secure Pole. After a win yesterday, Buemi was back in contention for the title but needed a Pole and a race win today to secure it. Instead, he starts the race in third. With that, the Championship battle is between three drivers - DS Techeetah's Jean-Eric Vergne, Audi Sport Abt Schaeffler's Lucas di Grassi and Panasonic Jaguar Racing's Mitch Evans.

Behind Buemi is Envision Virgin Racing's Sam Bird, HWA Racelab's Stoffel Vandoorne and Audi Sport Abt Schaeffler driver Daniel Abt, who rounds off the Super Pole standings. 

Just missing out on Super Pole was Nissan e.dams' rookie Oliver Rowland, who starts the final in seventh ahead of Evans in eighth. After an epic performance and second place finish yesterday, the Kiwi is still in with a slim chance of winning the Championship so long as he wins the race, gets an extra point for Fastest Lap and Vergne doesn't score any points. 

In ninth, HWA Racelab's Gary Paffet starts ahead of Venturi's Edoardo Mortara and Lucas di Grassi. The Audi Sport Abt Schaeffler driver is still in with a chance of clinching his second Championship title but he needs to win the race today to claim the title, providing his main opponent Jean-Eric Vergne doesn't score a single point.

Behind di Grassi is man of the moment Jean-Eric Vergne in 12th. Starting the race outside of the points, the standings leader will need to keep a cool head and work his way up the grid to score just eight points (sixth place) to keep his competitors at bay and secure the championship title.   

Sitting behind Vergne is Geox Dragon's Jose Maria Lopez, BMW i Andretti Motorsport's Antonio Felix da Costa, NIO's Oliver Turvey and Mahindra Racing's Jerome d'Ambrosio in 16th. 

Starting the race in 17th is NIO's Tom Dillmann, Mahindra Racing's Pascal Wehrlein and Geox Dragon's Max Gunther. At the back of the pack sits DS Techeetah's Andre Lotterer, Jaguar driver Alex Lynn and Venturi's Felipe Massa.