Oliver Rowland is back, earning himself a Julius Baer Pole Position in just his third race returning to Nissan. The Brit took on Envision Racing’s Robin Frijns in an exciting battle for the first place grid slot, but it was Rowland who came out on top in the Duels finale to earn his sixth Formula E pole position.
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The qualifying session was filled with drama, with Sebastien Buemi crashing out in his group stage and knocking out several big names including championship leader Pascal Wehrlein (TAG Heuer Porsche) who starts 10th and yesterday’s race winner Jake Dennis (Andretti) who lines up 15th.
"Honestly, I'm just relieved to be back here,” Rowland stated after another pole, moving him past Dennis and Nick Cassidy for most poles in Formula E. “It's been a very, very difficult two years.”
Rowland left the Mahindra Racing team after the Monaco E-Prix last season in a mutual agreement, being replaced by Roberto Merhi. He has returned to his old team Nissan, where he drove for three seasons and had plenty of success including a victory and five podiums.
QUALIFYING RESULTS: Rowland rockets to Diriyah Round 3 Pole
“We knew we had the pace of this since pre-season testing, but in the first two rounds nothing quite went to plan. But today the team did an amazing job. I just like to thank all of them and everybody in Nissan for the mega car today. I guess we're back on the map and in the mix!
“Apart from the ATTACK MODE, I think we should be okay,” he added on the race strategy. “We just need to make good. The pace we had yesterday was good, so if we can repeat that today and make sure we're clever with our strategy, I think we can at least be on the podium.”