BMW's Jake Dennis fires to first Formula E Julius Baer Pole Position in Valencia
BMW i Andretti Motorsport's Jake Dennis rocketed to a maiden Julius Baer Pole Position ahead of the DHL Valencia E-Prix Round 6, firing clear of Andre Lotterer (TAG Heuer Porsche) and Alex Lynn (Mahindra Racing), though a prior penalty for Lotterer sees the German line-up a net fifth.
Jake Dennis (BMW i Andretti Motorsport) fired 0.8 seconds clear of Andre Lotterer (TAG Heuer Porsche) to take Julius Baer Pole Position for the DHL Valencia E-Prix Round 6 with a drying track rewarding those last on-track in qualifying.
The Brit was joined by four of his compatriots in Super Pole and took full advantage of a drying circuit, firstly as a Group 4 runner in Group Qualifying and secondly as the final driver to complete his lap in the six-driver shootout for pole.
WAYS TO WATCH: Where and how to watch every minute from Valencia
He was precise and measured, and dug out a 1m28.548s as times tumbled towards yesterday's quickest times with the morning sun in Valencia burning off the remaining damp patches around the Circuit Ricardo Tormo. That was well clear of the previous man on-track, Andre Lotterer, who would again line up on the front-row but for a penalty for an incident involving Edo Mortara in Round 5 which sees the Porsche driver start fifth.
"I am so happy, it’s such a relief after a difficult start of the season," said Dennis. "We’ve put it all together and it’s the first race weekend where we’ve had no issues and I’m super happy for everyone who’s put in the hard work overnight."
Alex Lynn starts a net second in the Mahindra, and the Brit hooked the lap up nicely to fire almost half-a-second clear of those that came before, with NIO 333 duo Tom Blomqvist and Oliver Turvey lining up third and fourth, Lotterer fifth, while ROKiT Venturi Racing's Norman Nato rounds out the top six.
CATCH UP: The full Round 5 race report
Nato was first to run in Super Pole, and went faster than anyone had done previously on the drying track with a neat and tidy lap. At the time, the Frenchman’s 1m30.489s was still more than three seconds shy of yesterday’s pace, though, illustrating how tricky the conditions remained even a few minutes before Dennis' run - despite the sunshine.
DS TECHEETAH's Jean-Eric Vergne takes seventh spot despite running early on in Group 2, with Oliver Rowland and Nissan e.dams teammate Sebastien Buemi eighth and ninth and early pacesetter Sergio Sette Camara (DRAGON / PENSKE AUTOSPORT) completed the top 10.
Drivers' standings leaders - Mercedes-EQ duo Stoffel Vandoorne and Nyck de Vries - find themselves well down the order in 18th and 19th, with third-placed man Sam Bird (Jaguar Racing) just behind in 20th.
Coverage of the DHL Valencia E-Prix Round 6 is next up at 13:30 CEST.
For everything from the DHL Valencia E-Prix Rounds 5 & 6 and full session classifications, head to fiaformulae.com/live
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