Jake Dennis has put himself firmly in the championship fight after taking pole position in Tokyo, beating Edoardo Mortara in the final qualifying duel.
Dennis was nearly three tenths of a second down in the first sector but clawed back time in the second. Mortara then endured a scruffy final sector, allowing the Andretti driver to set a 1:11.863 and snatch pole by just 0.052 seconds, with the Mahindra driver posting a 1:11.915.
The pole position earned Dennis three valuable championship points, promoting him to fourth in the standings ahead of today’s race and strengthening his title challenge.
The top three in the championship failed to make the duels. Pascal Wehrlein will start in ninth for Porsche, but Oliver Rowland and Mitch Evans will start down in 15th and 16th.
Antonio Félix da Costa will start third despite setting a quicker lap than Dennis in the semi-finals. However, the Season 6 champion was beaten by Mortara in their head-to-head duel, denying him a place in the final.
Nico Müller will line up fourth, although Porsche faces a race against time to repair his car after a heavy crash in the semi-finals. The Swiss driver carried too much speed into the tight Turns 10 and 11 chicane, was unable to slow the car sufficiently, and went straight into the barriers.
Taylor Barnard will start fifth for DS Penske, ahead of Dan Ticktum in the Cupra Kiro. The two Stellantis-powered cars line up seventh and eighth respectively, with Jean-Éric Vergne edging out Nick Cassidy.
Wehrelin will start in ninth place, ahead of Maximilian Gunther in the DS Penske.
Norman Nato will line up 11th on the grid, with Nyck de Vries starting alongside him in 12th.
Joel Eriksson will begin the race from 13th, ahead of Sébastien Buemi in 14th. Championship leader Oliver Rowland faces work to do from 15th on the grid, with Mitch Evans lining up 16th.
Lucas di Grassi will start 17th, ahead of rookie Pepe Martí in 18th. Zane Maloney will line up 19th, while Felipe Drugovich completes the grid in 20th.
