Diriyah E-Prix: Rowland remains on top in second practice
Oliver Rowland completed a clean sweep of Formula E practice sessions for the Diriyah E-Prix, the Mahindra driver heading Friday's FP2 ahead of the opening qualifying of the season.
Having already led the way in the opening session on Thursday night, Rowland picked up from where he left off and set a 1m08.957s late on in the session, which withstood the flurry of laps towards its climax.
Envision's Robin Frijns made a bid for the fastest time towards the end of the session, but a lock-up and traffic ahead put a dampener on his lap after posting the fastest opening sector.
High track evolution towards the end of the session brought the laptimes below the 70-second range for the first time this weekend, as the dust that had pervaded the circuit continued to be cleared by running on track.
Mitch Evans was the first to beat Rowland's timesheet-topper from FP1, posting a 1m10.479s and then taking two-hundredths of a second out of his own time - both enough to see off a full-power effort from Jean-Eric Vergne.
Vergne's DS Techeetah team-mate Antonio Felix da Costa then beat Evans and was momentarily quickest before Pascal Wehrlein was the first to dive below the 1m10s to log a 1m09.973s.
Shaking off his FP1 incident, Nyck de Vries made up for lost time and beat Wehrlein's lap to sit atop the order, but his Mercedes stablemate Stoffel Vandoorne began the final 10 minutes as the fastest driver - going nearly two-tenths faster than de Vries.
PLUS: Why Vandoorne is poised to deliver Mercedes a perfect Formula E sign-off
Venturi's Edoardo Mortara, also propelled by the Mercedes powertrain, was able to wrest control of the session from Vandoorne - but was immediately beaten by Dragon Penske's Sergio Sette Camara.
Nick Cassidy was next to pick up the baton, bringing the times closer to the 1m09s mark, before handing off to Sam Bird - before Jake Dennis set a pleasing 1m09.000s.
Dennis briefly topped the times before being usurped by Rowland
Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images
Although Dennis had hoped to remain atop the standings, Rowland threw in his fastest effort with about a minute to spare - with Bird also getting into the 1m08s bracket by the close of the session.
Dennis remained third ahead of da Costa, while Frijns' lock-up kept him in fifth place, over a tenth ahead of Wehrlein.
Vergne was seventh quickest ahead of Cassidy, as new Nissan e.dams recruit Maximilian Gunther placed ninth ahead of Andretti rookie Oliver Askew.
Formula E's all-new qualifying system follows, which will use a knockout format to set the grid for the opening Diriyah E-Prix race.
Diriyah E-Prix - Second practice results:
| Cla | # | Driver | Team | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 30 |  Oliver Rowland |
 Mahindra Racing |
1'08.957 | |
| 2 | 10 | Sam Bird |
Jaguar Racing |
1'08.972 | 0.015 |
| 3 | 27 | Jake Dennis |
Avalanche Andretti Formula E | 1'09.000 | 0.043 |
| 4 | 13 |  Antonio Felix da Costa |
 Techeetah |
1'09.048 | 0.091 |
| 5 | 4 |  Robin Frijns |
Virgin Racing |
1'09.070 | 0.113 |
| 6 | 94 |  Pascal Wehrlein |
Porsche Team |
1'09.172 | 0.215 |
| 7 | 25 |  Jean-Eric Vergne |
Techeetah |
1'09.208 | 0.251 |
| 8 | 37 |  Nick Cassidy |
Virgin Racing |
1'09.255 | 0.298 |
| 9 | 22 | Maximilian Gunther |
DAMS |
1'09.413 | 0.456 |
| 10 | 28 |  Oliver Askew |
Avalanche Andretti Formula E | 1'09.502 | 0.545 |
| 11 | 7 |  Sergio Sette Camara |
Dragon Racing |
1'09.508 | 0.551 |
| 12 | 48 |  Edoardo Mortara |
 Venturi |
1'09.518 | 0.561 |
| 13 | 11 | Lucas di Grassi |
Venturi |
1'09.541 | 0.584 |
| 14 | 9 | Mitch Evans |
Jaguar Racing |
1'09.656 | 0.699 |
| 15 | 36 | Andre Lotterer |
Porsche Team |
1'09.718 | 0.761 |
| 16 | 5 |  Stoffel Vandoorne |
Mercedes |
1'09.740 | 0.783 |
| 17 | 23 | Sébastien Buemi |
DAMS |
1'09.806 | 0.849 |
| 18 | 17 | Nyck de Vries |
Mercedes |
1'09.906 | 0.949 |
| 19 | 33 | Dan Ticktum |
NIO Formula E Team |
1'09.962 | 1.005 |
| 20 | 29 | Alexander Sims |
Mahindra Racing |
1'10.157 | 1.200 |
| 21 | 3 | Oliver Turvey |
NIO Formula E Team |
1'10.520 | 1.563 |
| 22 | 99 |  Antonio Giovinazzi |
Dragon Racing |
1'10.590 | 1.633 |
| View full results | |||||
Related video
Evans: New Formula E quali format will increase challenge of winning
Diriyah E-Prix: Vandoorne beats Dennis to pole in qualifying duel
Daytona 24, Hour 21: MSR Acura back in front with three hours left
The Meyer Shank Racing Acura was back in front with three hours remaining in the Daytona 24 Hours that opens the IMSA SportsCar season.
Ekstrom defeats Schumacher for fourth Race of Champions victory
Two-time DTM champion Mattias Ekstrom took his fourth Race of Champions title at Pite Havsbad in Sweden after defeating Mercedes Formula 1 reserve driver Mick Schumacher in the final.
Ogier eyes WRC Monte Carlo rematch with Loeb
Sebastien Ogier is keen for a Rally Monte Carlo rematch against Sebastien Loeb in next year's World Rally Championship after becoming the most successful driver in event history.
Webber: Red Bull will remain "dangerous" threat in F1 2023 title fight
Mark Webber believes Red Bull will remain the “most dangerous team” in Formula 1 in 2023 despite facing penalties for its cost cap breach.
The first impressions of Formula E's brave new era
OPINION: Formula E kicked off its Gen3 era at Mexico City with keen anticipation - and anxiety - surrounding its new, more powerful cars. Here's how the new machinery got on in its first race, and what could be open to improvement later down the line
How Dennis dominated Formula E's new generation opener
Formula E’s Gen3 era kicked off with more unpredictability as Andretti’s Jake Dennis recovered from poor pre-season testing to dominate in Mexico. Here's how it played out and what the opener hints at what is to come in the new generation of the electric series
Is this a Formula E 'nearly man's' best chance yet at title glory?
With braking issues scuppering his championship hopes at a crucial moment in the 2021-22 Formula E season, Mitch Evans is more determined than ever heading into this year. He explains how he plans to make it third time lucky after two title near-misses
Can McLaren make a success of its foray into Formula E?
McLaren kept a two-time title-winning Formula E team alive after purchasing the Mercedes entry. But with new drivers and a switch to customer status, can it continue to succeed in its new orange era?
10 things we learned from Valencia Formula E testing
The prologue to the 2022/2023 Formula E season has concluded as the series gets set for the new Gen3 era. After almost four days of testing in Valencia this week, Autosport takes a look at the 10 major talking points that will dominate the build-up to the new campaign getting underway in January.
How Jaguar got its teeth into Formula E's Gen3 development race
With Mercedes gone and DS moving teams, Jaguar has a big opportunity at the start of Formula E's Gen3 era. The technical challenges in understanding the new car have been vast, with senior figures James Barclay and Phil Charles outlining to Autosport the pitfalls along the way
The top 10 Formula E drivers of 2021-22
After a wild 2020-21 season, this year's Formula E campaign had a much stronger narrative to it, but ended with the same result as a driver from the Silver Arrows squad triumphed. Here's our guide to those who shone brightest during the campaign
The trait Vandoorne rediscovered to claim Formula E's era-ending title
After Nyck de Vries was crowned Formula E champion in 2021, his Mercedes team-mate Stoffel Vandoorne stepped forward this season as the Gen2 era and his team bowed out. As he did on the way to the GP2 crown in 2015, the Belgian achieved a peerless level of consistency and was only outside the points once, with his sole win in Monaco sufficient to head off a chasing pack headed by Mitch Evans
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.