The Jaguar driver posted a 1m17.068s lap, extending his advantage across all three sectors at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli to finish 0.166s clear of Vergne at the line.
The DS Penske driver had headed both practice sessions in Italy prior to qualifying and claimed his second front row start of the season for Saturday’s race, the first of two this weekend.
A small mistake at Turn 11 which launched him over the exit sausage kerb meant McLaren’s Jake Hughes lost out on a final spot to Evans, while a strong middle sector allowed Vergne’s 1m17.085s to pip championship leader and Porsche’s Pascal Wehrlein by 0.058s.
A 1m16.977s, the best time across qualifying, was enough for Hughes to progress to the semi-final at the expense of Abt’s Nico Muller as McLaren team-mate Bird lost out to Evans by nearly half a second.
But Hughes was later docked his fourth place grid slot when it was found his fire extinguisher was not armed during qualifying. He was disqualified from the session and will therefore start from the back of the grid, elevating Muller to fourth.
Vergne was never troubled by Tokyo E-Prix winner Maximilian Guenther in their quarter-final battle, with the Maserati MSG driver finishing more than a second behind after a scruffy lap that included hitting the sausage kerb on the exit of Turn 11.
A moment on the exit of the Turn 8/9 chicane that briefly put him on the grass negated Oliver Rowland’s quicker opening sector against Wehrlein and meant the Nissan driver fell 0.155s short in their quarter-final duel.
Nick Cassidy was able to participate in qualifying after his Jaguar machine was repaired following a high-speed crash during FP2 earlier in the day, but the Kiwi just missed out on progressing from the second qualifying group by 0.005s.
Jake Hughes, McLaren, e-4ORCE 04
Photo by: Andrew Ferraro / Motorsport Images
This was after Muller pipped the Kiwi with his final effort, as Hughes headed the session with a 1m17.864s, followed by Evans and team-mate Bird.
Also missing the cut was Sebastien Buemi (Envision), Norman Nato (Andretti), Mahindra’s Edoardo Mortara and Dan Ticktum (ERT).
Reigning champion Jake Dennis could only finish 10th after hitting the wall on the exit of the Turn 8/9 chicane, with the Andretti driver also losing his first three lap times due to running tyre pressures below the minimum.
Vergne comfortably headed the first group with a 1m18.062s, followed by Wehrlein, Rowland – who had a huge slide during his final run on the exit of the last turn – and Guenther.
Envision’s Robin Frijns failed to advance by 0.025s in fifth as the Dutchman finished ahead of Sacha Fenestraz (Nissan), Porsche’s Antonio Felix da Costa, Abt’s Lucas di Grassi and Stoffel Vandoorne (DS Penske).
Jehan Daruvala (Maserati MSG) and Sergio Sette Camara (ERT) brought up the order as most drivers failed to improve on their final efforts.
