Buemi takes pole for Formula E title decider in London - MotorSportsTalk

LONDON, UK – Sebastien Buemi will start Sunday’s title-deciding London ePrix from pole position after dominating proceedings in qualifying at Battersea Park.

Buemi topped both legs of qualifying, producing a fastest lap of 1:22.093 in the Superpole shoot-out for pole position – the quickest of the weekend so far.

The result secured Buemi three points, drawing him level with title rival Lucas di Grassi ahead of the final showdown later this afternoon.

Di Grassi reached the top five, but was powerless to stop Buemi and Renault e.dams teammate Nicolas Prost locking out the front row of the grid, leaving him third for the start.

Should di Grassi and Buemi end the day tied on points – only possible if both retire or fail to score – then di Grassi would take the title by virtue of having more third-place finishes.

Oliver Turvey produced a stunning lap in both stages of qualifying to secure P4 on the grid for NEXTEV TCR, while Nick Heidfeld bounced back from his post-race penalty on Saturday to qualify fifth.

The London ePrix kicks off at 4pm local time (11am ET) on Sunday.

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In a continuing effort to help fans keep track of the on track action, SuperMotocross is in the process of developing and implementing leader lights for the unified series.

Currently Supercross (SMX) utilizes stanchions in the infield that are triggered manually by a race official. At least two stanchions are used in each race as a way to draw the eye to the leader, which is especially useful in the tight confines of the stadium series when lapping often begins before the halfway mark in the 22-bike field. This system has been in place for the past two decades.

Later this year, a fully automated system will move to the bike itself to replace the old system. At that point, fans will be able to identify the leader regardless of where he is on track.

The leader lights were tested in the second Anaheim round this year. An example can be seen at the 1:45 mark in the video above on the No. 69 bike.

“What we don’t want to do is move too fast, where it’s confusing to people,” said Mike Muye, senior director of operations for Supercross and SMX in a press release. “We’ve really just focused on the leader at this point with the thought that maybe down the road we’ll introduce others.”

Scheduled to debut with the first SuperMotocross World Championship race at zMax Dragway, located just outside the Charlotte Motor Speedway, a 3D carbon fiber-printed LED light will be affixed to each motorcycle. Ten timing loops positioned around the track will trigger the lights of the leader, which will turn green.

SMX’s partner LiveTime Scoring helped develop and implement the system that has been tested in some form or fashion since 2019.

When the leader lights are successfully deployed, SuperMotocross will explore expanding the system to identify the second- and third-place riders. Depending on need and fan acceptance, more positions could be added.

SuperMotocross is exploring future enhancements, including allowing for live fan interaction with the lights and ways to use the lighting system during the race’s opening ceremony.

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