Mahindra's Sims had made sensational progress through the qualifying duels, after moving up into the top four of his group late when Sebastien Buemi's best laptime was deleted for going below the minimum pitstop time, and up on Mortara by 0.138s by the end of the second sector.
But Mortara was able to rebound as Sims shipped three tenths to the Swiss driver in the final sector, claiming a 1m06.093s for pole.
