Andretti's Dennis beats Mortara in Tokyo pole shootout

Jake Dennis took pole position for Andretti Formula E at the Tokyo E-Prix after beating Mahindra Racing’s Edoardo Mortara by 0.052 seconds in the final duel, with a lap of 1:11.863. It was Dennis’s third Julius Baer Pole Position of the season. Mortara had led much of qualifying and reached the final after a 1:11.889 semi-final lap against António Félix Da Costa, who qualified third behind Dennis and Mortara.

The session was stopped when Nico Müller crashed heavily at Turns 11 and 12 in his semi-final against Dennis, triggering a red flag. Müller was classified fourth on the grid, followed by Taylor Barnard, Dan Ticktum, Jean-Éric Vergne, Nick Cassidy, Pascal Wehrlein and Maximilian Günther in the top 10. Wehrlein, the championship leader, had been eliminated in the group stage, and Nissan’s drivers and Jaguar’s Mitch Evans also went out early.

Andretti arrived at qualifying after a difficult Friday, with Felipe Drugovich causing an early red flag in Free Practice 2 when he crashed heavily into the barriers at Turn 16. The team had to repair his car before qualifying, and Drugovich did not take part. Mortara had topped both practice sessions, leading Free Practice 2 in 1:12.491 after also going fastest in the wet opening practice, while Dennis had been fifth in FP2 and third in FP1. The Tokyo E-Prix is part of a double-header, with races scheduled for July 25 and July 26.