TICKTUM TAKES MONACO POLE AFTER DRAMATIC QUALIFYING
Qualifying for Round 9 of the 2026 Monaco E-Prix started with Group A. Pascal Wehrlein was the fastest in the group and earned a place in the Duels with a time of 1m28.832s. He was joined by Maximilian Günther, Nico Müller and Dan Ticktum, with the top four covered by a very small gap.
Jean-Éric Vergne just missed out and finished fifth in Group A, while last season’s Monaco winner Sébastien Buemi could only finish eighth. Edoardo Mortara had a difficult session because of a mechanical issue. He was not able to leave the garage and did not set a lap time, which was a big setback after Mahindra had looked strong in practice.
Group B was led by Mitch Evans for Jaguar TCS Racing. He was only 0.038s faster than Nyck de Vries, who also made it through to the Duels. António Félix da Costa finished third, giving Jaguar two cars in the next stage. Joel Eriksson surprised many by finishing fourth and reaching the Duels on his first Formula E visit to Monaco.
Some big names were knocked out in Group B. Oliver Rowland finished sixth and missed the Duels, while Nick Cassidy also failed to progress after ending the group in ninth place.
The Quarter Finals began with Nico Müller against Maximilian Günther. Müller had already secured his best Monaco starting position in Formula E by reaching the top eight, but he could not beat Günther, who moved into the Semi Finals.
Next came Dan Ticktum against Pascal Wehrlein. Both drivers were using Porsche powertrains, and Wehrlein had taken pole in Monaco before, but this time Ticktum was stronger. The CUPRA KIRO driver produced the better lap and moved forward.
Nyck de Vries then faced António Félix da Costa. Da Costa made a rare mistake at Mirabeau, which gave De Vries the chance to win the duel and continue his strong day for Mahindra Racing.
The final Quarter Final was between Joel Eriksson and Mitch Evans. Eriksson had done well to reach the Duels in his first Monaco appearance, but Evans had more pace and moved into the Semi Finals.
In the Semi Finals, Günther faced Ticktum in a close and messy battle. Both drivers made small mistakes and touched the barriers during their laps, but Ticktum kept enough speed to win the duel and secure a place on the front row.
The second Semi Final was between Evans and De Vries. Mahindra had looked fast all day, and De Vries continued that form by beating Evans and reaching the Final.
The Final was Dan Ticktum against Nyck de Vries. Ticktum had a close moment near the barriers coming out of the casino section, but he did not let that stop him. He pushed hard and beat De Vries by more than a tenth of a second.
Ticktum’s lap of 1m26.551s gave him pole position for the Monaco E-Prix. It was his second Julius Baer Pole Position in Formula E and a special result for CUPRA KIRO. The team’s blue-purple livery, created in partnership with Amazon MGM Studios to promote Masters of the Universe, took the spotlight on one of the most famous circuits in motorsport.
De Vries will start second for Mahindra Racing, with Günther third for DS PENSKE and Evans fourth for Jaguar. Ticktum, however, was the star of qualifying, turning his strong love for Monaco into pole position.
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