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.
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.
Source: Autosport