The Nissan driver was in impressive form during all stages of qualifying in Saudi Arabia and saved his best effort until his final duel against Frijns.
Fastest time in all three sectors left him with a 1m10.055s, the quickest lap from the entirety of qualifying, which bagged Rowland his first pole since Seoul in 2022.
Rowland had progressed to the final by beating Jaguar’s Nick Cassidy by less than two tenths in their semi-final duel, as Frijns got the better of DS Penske’s Stoffel Vandoorne by a similar margin in their semi-final clash.
Rowland booked his place in the semi-finals after beating Maserati MSG’s Jehan Daruvala by more than six tenths, the Indian driver having progressed to the duels for the first time in his fledgling Formula E career.
Cassidy was never headed in his battle against McLaren’s Jake Hughes, while a small error from Nissan’s Sacha Fenestraz in the opening sector meant he lost out against Vandoorne.
Polesitter from yesterday’s Diriyah E-Prix Jean-Eric Vergne was firmly beaten in his quarter-final duel with Frijns, the DS Penske driver finishing 0.227s adrift.
Reigning champion Jake Dennis will have to climb from 15th on the grid if he is to repeat his opening Diriyah E-Prix victory, after his final qualifying effort was thwarted by a red flag in the qualifying stages.
The Andretti driver was left eighth in the second group and unable to improve after Sebastien Buemi crashed at Turn 2 as the chequered flag came out with drivers on their final laps.
Source: Autosport