Dennis doubles up with second pole in as many days in London

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Dennis doubles up with second pole in as many days in London

Dennis doubles up with second pole in as many days in London

Jake Dennis sealed a second consecutive Julius Baer Pole Position in as many days in London, as the Brit sets off in search of a SABIC London E-Prix Round 14 win and another potential Grand Slam.

Dennis steered to a surgical 1m12.535s lap in the Final Duel with yet another astonishing performance behind the wheel of his Avalanche Andretti. Lucas di Grassi was his opponent but the ROKiT Venturi Racing driver made a mistake on his flying lap, but in truth he was struggling to live with the Brit's raw pace until that moment in any case.

RESULTS: Qualifying for the SABIC London E-Prix Round 14

If Dennis were to convert from pole as he did yesterday, and seal the TAG Heuer Fastest Lap once again, he would secure an unprecedented double Grand Slam in a clean sweep of every accolade in every session at this year's SABIC London E-Prix. It's on, and in front of a vocal home support to boot.

Antonio Giovinazzi (DRAGON / PENSKE AUTOSPORT) made his first Duels appearance and will be thrilled with the third-fastest time of the session - by far his season's best.

Standings leader Stoffel Vandoorne failed to make the cut in the Groups, though none of his closest rivals progressed to the Duels either - leaving the title fight to play out via a battle from midfield. Stoffel secured 13th, Mitch Evans (Jaguar TCS Racing) - his closest rival - is one spot back while Edoardo Mortara (ROKiT Venturi Racing) sits 17th. Jean-Eric Vergne is best-placed of that top four to make up ground from 10th.

 

Semis

Dennis stamped his authority on proceedings to make a second Final in two days in London, in the hunt for a second consecutive Julius Baer Pole Position. Da Costa knew he would have to go some to unseat him and the Brit looked completely unflustered on the way to another regulation flyer at the ExCeL – enough to outdo the DS driver by four tenths of a second. Da Costa will start fourth.

Giovinazzi gave it everything in his scrap with di Grassi for a spot in the Final Duel. A 1m12.962s was a strong benchmark for the Venturi driver to have to reach but the veteran Brazilian didn’t skip a beat with a faultless lap, some four tenths quicker than his man for his first Final appearance. Giovinazzi will be more than happy to line up third, though - some performance in his first Duels appearance.

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Quarters

Dennis’ pace from Saturday looked like it had carried over into Sunday as the home hero blew Buemi away by more than half a second to progress to the Semis with a surgically quick lap, leaving the Nissan e.dams driver sixth.

Next up, Cassidy squared up against da Costa. The New Zealander locked up into Turn 1 which forced him off-line for Turn 2, with the DS driver looking far tidier – three tenths up after just those corners alone. From there Cassidy looked ragged and the Portuguese capitalised, keeping it together to progress while the Envision Racing driver would have to settle for seventh.

Giovinazzi had the reigning champion to get by if he was to make it into the Semis. The Italian hadn’t made it beyond the Groups all season but he pulled it out of the bag with the pressure on while de Vries locked up and looked ragged. The DRAGON driver was level with the Mercedes man through much of the lap and pulled clear in Sector 3 to do the business, leaving de Vries fifth.

Di Grassi effectively got himself a bye with Askew finding the barriers early in the lap. That marked the first time any driver had hit the wall in the Duels this season and Askew will line up eighth.

Groups

Dennis headed the way after the initial runs in Group A and stamped his authority on things with his second flyer to pip da Costa, de Vries and Askew to the fastest time. Neither of Vandoorne nor Mortara made the cut, and Venturi’s disappointing weekend continues but the standings leader’s Round 14 is far from a sure thing with him marooned mid-pack.

Group B threw a spanner in the works for Vergne and Evans with the title contenders winding up fifth and seventh while di Grassi, Cassidy and Buemi laid down the marker.

At the last, Giovinazzi pulled a storming lap out of the bag to go second and nudge DS TECHEETAH’s Vergne out of the Duels. Di Grassi’s time was some three tenths up on anyone else in Group B.

None of the championship’s top four progressed to the Duels – Vandoorne had yet to miss out on the knockouts.

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