The McLaren driver had been on impressive form throughout the entirety of qualifying and come the final duel looked likely to claim only his third career Formula E pole.
Hughes was nearly two tenths faster than Vergne in the opening sector, and although the DS Penske driver was fractionally quicker in the middle of the lap, a strong last sector left Hughes with a 1m16.538s – 0.245s faster.
Hughes continued his impressive form from Saturday, with the Briton having qualified third for the opening Misano E-Prix before he was disqualified after it was found his onboard fire extinguisher was not turned on.
A slide on the exit of the final corner almost cost Hughes a place in the final duel as he beat Porsche’s Pascal Wehrlein by just 0.053s in the semi-final.
Vergne had an easier time progressing to the final for the second time this weekend after Abt’s Nico Muller lost seven tenths in the opening sector due to a brief power cut, which left the German more than one second behind at the line.
A 1m16.413s, the fastest time from the entirety of qualifying, allowed Hughes to comfortably beat DS Penske’s Stoffel Vandoorne in the quarter-final by nearly seven tenths, as an error in the final sector meant Envision’s Robin Frijns was left 0.706s behind Muller in their bout.
Source: Autosport