Hyderabad ePrix: Mitch Evans takes pole position for Jaguar

Mitch Evans, on Saturday, took the pole position after an intense qualifying session at the first-ever Hyderabad ePrix. The Jaguar Racing driver saw off a stiff battle with DS Penske's Eric-Jean Vergne in the final duel to take his first pole of the 2023 season.

Evans clocked 1:13.228 in the final duel to earn the fourth pole position of his career compared to Vergne's 1:13.249, who reached the final with a bye in the semifinal.

Vergne had lost his quarterfinal duel against Sam Bird, but the latter had his time deleted due to exceeding track limits. The two drivers in quarterfinal four - Edoardo Mortara and Rene Rast, too had their time deleted for exceeding track limits which gifted Vergne a direct entry into the front row.

Mitch Evans, on the other hand, beat Envision Racing's Sebastian Buemi in his semifinal duel after going past Maximilian Gunter of Maserati Racing in the quarterfinal.

On the other hand, Mahindra Racing were in for a disappointment in their first-ever home race as their two drivers - Oliver Rowland and Lucas di Grassi, failed to make it to the duels.

While Rowland finished seventh in group A, di Grassi finished a lowly tenth.

Provisional Starting Grid for the Hyderabad ePrix:

1) Mitch Evans - Jaguar Racing

2) Eric-Jean Vergne - DS Penske

3) Sebastian Buemi - Envision Racing

4) Sacha Fenestraz - Nissan

5) Maximilan Gunther - Maserati Racing

6) Sam Bird - Jaguar Racing

7) Edoardo Mortara - Maserati Racing

8) Rene Rast - McLaren

9) Nick Cassidy - Envision Racing

10) Oliver Rowland - Mahindra Racing

11) Jake Dennis - Avalanche Andretti

12) Pascal Wehrlein - Porsche

13) Antonio Felix da Costa - Porsche

14) Norman Nato - Nissan

15) Sergio Sette Camara - NIO 333 Racing

16) Dan Ticktum - NIO 333 Racing

17) Stoffel Vandoorne - DS Penske

18) Nico Mueller - ABT Team

19) Lucas di Grassi - Mahindra Racing

20) Andre Lotterer - Avalanche Andretti

21) Jake Hughes - McLaren

22) Kelvin van der Linde - ABT Team