McLaren's rookie sensation Taylor Barnard secured pole position for the first race of Formula E's Monaco E-Prix, just days after the brand announced its upcoming exit from the series.
Barnard defeated championship leader Oliver Rowland in the final duel at the Circuit de Monaco, to claim a second career pole in the all-electric series.
The Briton did not need to push in the final to add to his recent pole in Jeddah, as Rowland made heavy contact with the wall at the first corner.
It marked McLaren's first significant moment since announcing it would leave the category at the end of the season.
Cupra Kiro's Dan Ticktum secured third on the grid, ahead of Season 7 world champion Nyck de Vries.
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Duels
It was an all-Nissan final duel, in Rowland's factory car and Barnard's customer McLaren. Barnard was the heavy favourite, having posted a staggering 1m 26.315s in the semi finals.
Unfortunately, a battle between the title rivals was over before it even began, as Rowland made heavy contact with the wall at the first corner.
It was a firm impact for Rowland with the barrier on the exit of Sainte Devote, allowing Barnard to cruise round to claim a second career pole.
To make the final, Barnard first defeated last season's Monaco winner Mitch Evans in the quarter finals, before getting the better of Ticktum in the semi finals.
As for Rowland, he came out victorious against rival Pascal Wehrlein in the quarter finals, and then beat de Vries in the semi finals. In the other two quarter finals, de Vries defeated Jake Dennis and Ticktum beat Robin Frijns.
Group stage
As always in the group stage the drivers only had 300kW of power available, before it increases to 350kW in the duels.
Conditions were cool during qualifying with a layer of cloud having reduced the temperature compared to the low 20s experienced on media day.
It meant several preparation laps were required in the group stage, to get the tyres and brakes into the right operating window.
The first group included championship leader Rowland and reigning world champion Wehrlein, as well as Miami polesitter Norman Nato. Rowland topped Group A courtesy of a 1m 28.713s, with Dennis, de Vries and Wehrlein having joined him.
With title contenders Rowland and Wehrlein having progressed to the duels, the pressure was on Antonio Da Costa and Barnard to secure a top-four slot in Group B. The second group also finished last season's Monaco winner Evans, and Jaguar team-mate Nick Cassidy.
However, it was Ticktum who continued a strong start in Monaco, after topping first and second practice but also the second qualifying group.
Evans was three-tenths slower than Ticktum's 1m 28.661, although secured second in the group to progress to the duels. Barnard and Frijns also progressed. Da Costa was eliminated and will start from the eighth row, ahead of Cassidy on the ninth row.
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