Wehrlein puts Porsche on pole for second Berlin E-Prix race

Pascal Wehrlein kept Porsche Motorsport’s anniversary party rolling in Berlin by taking pole position for the second race of the Berlin E-Prix.

Going head-to-head with Taylor Barnard in the final of the qualifying Duels, the DS Penske driver held the upper hand in the first two sectors of the lap, but Wehrlein recovered in the final sector to set a time of 57.292s and take it by 0.038s. The result gives him a second front-row start in as many days after taking the second spot for Saturday’s race.

Wehrlein's journey to pole began with a fourth place in the second Group, behind Antonio Felix da Costa, Joel Eriksson, and Zane Maloney.

He faced Jaguar TCS Racing driver da Costa in his first Duel, before taking on Envision Racing's Joel Eriksson in the Semifinals. A run deep into Turn 2 by Eriksson meant that it was a relatively straightforward run to the Final for Wehrlein.

Barnard was second in his Group, behind Nick Cassidy and ahead of Andretti’s Felipe Drugovich and Jean-Eric Vergne. In his first Duel, Drugovich ran wide in Turn 2 but Barnard also missed the apex in the same corner. Nevertheless, Barnard held the advantage, gaining more than a tenth in every sector to win the tie.

He then faced off with fellow Stellantis runner Cassidy in the Semifinals, Cassidy getting there after beating teammate Vergne after a tense battle in the first-ever all-Citroen Duel. His lap in that Duel was the fastest time of all of qualifying, a 57.217s. After Barnard had a strong first sector, Cassidy was catching in the second and third, but it wasn't enough to overhaul the Brit.

Wehrlein's pole – his and Porsche’s 11th in Formula E – brings with it three championship points, moving him to within one point of championship leader Edoardo Mortara who usurped Wehrlein at the top of the table on Saturday after claiming pole and fourth in the first race of the weekend.

Behind Wehrlein and Barnard, Cassidy will start Saturday afternoon's race from third, ahead of Eriksson who achieved his best qualifying result in Formula E, bettering his 6th place start at the Miami E-Prix earlier this season.

Vergne will start fifth ahead of Maloney who again showed Lola Yamaha Abt's strong one lap pace to take his and the team's best qualifying result – one better than his previous best set on Saturday.

Drugovich will start seventh, ahead of da Costa, with Nyck de Vries highest of those who didn't make the Duels in ninth.

His Mahindra teammate, Saturday polesitter Mortara will start 10th after missing out on advancing to the Duels by just 0.022s after clipping the wall at the final turn on his last lap. He will start ahead of Maximilian Guenther, while Saturday race winner, Porsche’s Nico Mueller, was another big name casualty from the Group stage. He will start 12th.

Jake Dennis will line up 13th, ahead of Sebastien Buemi, Lucas di Grassi, and Norman Nato, with Mitch Evans 17th and reigning champion Oliver Rowland a surprising 18th with three personal best sectors on his final Group stage lap not enough for him to advance.

The Cupra Kiros of Pepe Marti and Dan Ticktum will occupy the back row of the grid. Like Evans and Rowland, Ticktum’s result appears to be strategic with them saving a set of tires for what is expected to be an energy-sensitive race without Pit Boost, with two Attack Modes, and two fewer laps – 37 – compared to Saturday’s race.

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