The DS Penske driver put himself 0.012s up on Evans after the first sector, but found himself fractionally behind the Jaguar ace after coming through the second timing zone.
A final sector time just over a tenth up allowed Vergne to claim top spot with a 1m12.062s and by a margin of only 0.072s, the Frenchman’s first Formula E pole since Jakarta in 2022.
Evans set the fastest lap in the entirety of qualifying – a 1m11.992s as he became the only driver to go below the 1m12s barrier – to progress into the final at the expense of reigning champion Jake Dennis.
The Andretti driver had dropped two tenths back by the second sector but reduced the gap to only 0.087s at the line.
ERT’s Sergio Sette Camara proved to be the surprise of qualifying, making it as far as the semi-final stage but ultimately losing out in his battle against Vergne by nearly half a second.
Vergne had set the fastest time in the quarter-final stage of the duels, posting a 1m12.164s that was more than three tenths clear of Andretti driver Norman Nato, who had headed FP2 earlier in the day.
A quicker time in each of the three sectors allowed Sette Camara to progress to the semi-finals at the expense of Maserati MSG’s Maximilian Guenther, while the closest quarter-final margin was only 0.083s, as Dennis just got the better of Porsche driver and Mexico City E-Prix winner Pascal Wehrlein.
A 1m12.313s was enough for Evans to comfortably beat Jaguar team-mate Nick Cassidy in their quarter-final duel, the latter suffering a scruffy lap and finishing more than half a second behind his fellow Kiwi.
Source: Autosport