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Donington Park Formula E test: Daniel Abt fastest as rain hits

Daniel Abt topped a rain-hit final day of the opening 2016/17 Formula E pre-season test at Donington Park

Overnight rain and light drizzle ensured a wet start to Thursday's running, though the track conditions improved sufficiently for a spate of 200kW qualifying power dry runs at the end of the morning session.

Abt's 1m30.073s was four tenths shy of the record-breaking pace set by Jean-Eric Vergne on Wednesday, but would not be bettered over the remainder of the day.

That time edged Mahindra's Nick Heidfeld's best by just two hundredths of a second, the ex-Formula 1 driver ensuring his team remained near the top of the times at the end of an encouraging first test.

After setting a new lap record on his first day with the new Techeetah team, Vergne popped in a late flier to top Thursday's afternoon session.

His 1m30.234s was the third-fastest on the day, just 0.003s quicker than Renault e.dams driver Nicolas Prost managed before the Frenchman brought the morning session to a premature end with an off at Coppice.

Maro Engel and Stephane Sarrazin gave Venturi a boost after a test disrupted by stoppages by setting the third and fifth best times, with DS Virgin's Sam Bird sandwiched in between.

Bird's team-mate Jose Maria Lopez completed the top six, despite causing a red flag five minutes into the day's running when he went off with the track at its worst.

Jaguar's maiden test concluded with another reliable display, Harry Tincknell joining Adam Carroll in handling an I-Type 1.

The British manufacturer was not a factor at the top of the times, although Carroll did post the fastest first sector of the day late on with a flying lap that faded over the next two sectors.

The poor track conditions did not deter teams from running, with most eager to try the new Michelin tyres in the wet for the first time.

Abt Audi Sport was the busiest team, with Abt and Lucas di Grassi managing 93 laps between them.

NextEV racked up the lowest mileage with testing debutant Dean Stoneman at the wheel.

The British driver took over from Oliver Turvey but did not complete a 200kW run in the dry, and therefore finished 16th on the timesheets.

COMBINED THURSDAY TIMES

Pos  Driver                  Team                   Time       Gap
 1.  Daniel Abt              Abt Audi Sport         1m30.073s
 2.  Nick Heidfeld           Mahindra               1m30.095s  +0.022s
 3.  Jean-Eric Vergne        Techeetah              1m30.234s  +0.161s
 4.  Nicolas Prost           Renault e.dams         1m30.237s  +0.164s
 5.  Lucas di Grassi         Abt Audi Sport         1m30.252s  +0.179s
 6.  Jerome d'Ambrosio       Faraday Future Dragon  1m30.553s  +0.480s
 7.  Antonio Felix da Costa  Andretti               1m30.769s  +0.696s
 8.  Maro Engel              Venturi                1m31.093s  +1.020s
 9.  Sebastien Buemi         Renault e.dams         1m31.144s  +1.071s
10.  Sam Bird                DS Virgin              1m31.177s  +1.104s
11.  Stephane Sarrazin       Venturi                1m31.221s  +1.148s
12.  Jose Maria Lopez        DS Virgin              1m31.447s  +1.374s
13.  Adam Carroll            Jaguar                 1m31.721s  +1.648s
14.  Felix Rosenqvist        Mahindra               1m32.710s  +2.637s
15.  Ma Qing Hua             Techeetah              1m32.838s  +2.765s
16.  Dean Stoneman           NextEV                 1m33.389s  +3.316s
17.  Harry Tincknell         Jaguar                 1m33.927s  +3.854s
18.  Robin Frijns            Andretti               1m39.067s  +8.994s
19.  Loic Duval              Faraday Future Dragon  1m43.990s  +13.917s

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