Jake Dennis secured a huge pole position for the opening race of Formula E's Tokyo E-Prix, narrowly beating Edoardo Mortara in the final.
The Briton claimed pole after setting a 1m 11.863, going just 0.052s quicker than Mortara. Antonio Felix da Costa qualified in third, while Nico Müller settled for fourth on the grid after crashing.
It was a shocking qualifying for the top three in the championship, with Pascal Wehrlein, Mitch Evans and Oliver Rowland all failing to progress to the duels.
Wehrlein starts the highest of the trio on the weekend he could possibly win a second world championship, while for Rowland it is his first time qualifying outside the front row in Tokyo.
Duels
As the final between Dennis and Mortara got underway, the latter looked certain for pole after a strong opening sector.
Mortara's first sector alone was nearly three-tenths quicker than Dennis', but the Andretti star somehow pulled it back to claim pole and three points, moving him 29 adrift of Wehrein.
To reach the final, Dennis first had to beat Taylor Barnard in the quarter finals, before sailing through his semi-final with ease after Müller crashed.
As for Mortara, he defeated Jean-Eric Vergne first and then had a close semi-final with Jaguar's Antonio Felix da Costa.
In the other two quarter finals, Müller beat Citroën's Nick Cassidy and da Costa went quicker than a frustrated Dan Ticktum, who bemoaned having no grip.
Group stage
Qualifying took place in dry but overcast conditions, with rain a possibility for this evening's race. Both group sessions featured shocks.
The opening group featured only nine cars, due to Felipe Drugovich suffering a huge crash in second practice that required an extensive rebuild of his Andretti.
Dennis went quickest in the first group with a 1m 13.719 and was joined in the duel positions by Müller, Cassidy and Barnard. Title leader Wehrlein missed out, as did third-placed Rowland.
The shocks continued in the second group as second in the standings, Evans, failed to progress to the duels, while Jaguar team-mate António Félix da Costa did.
Da Costa set a 1m 13.652 to go fastest in the second group, joined in the top four by Mortara, Vergne and Ticktum.
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