Paris Formula E: Mike Conway fastest in free practice
Venturi driver Mike Conway set the fastest time in practice for Formula E's inaugural Paris ePrix
The British driver edged Jean-Eric Vergne by 0.010s in the second of Saturday's two sessions, topping the times on a 1m01.386s.
Both Conway and DS Virgin Racing's Vergne carried notably greater speed into Turns 11 and 12 to make the most of the out-of-position timing line, which is between those two corners.
That approach put both drivers two tenths clear of Vergne's team-mate Sam Bird, who hit the wall at Turn 8 and broke something on the left-rear of his other DSV-01 earlier in the session.
Championship leader Lucas di Grassi was fourth fastest, while Stephane Sarrazin recovered from spinning and nosing into the barrier early on to complete a promising practice for Venturi with the fifth-best time.
Di Grassi's title rival Sebastien Buemi was down in 13th after not completing a clean full-power run.
The Renault e.dams driver, seeking to halt a run of disappointing qualifying performances and overturn a one-point deficit to di Grassi in the championship, did top the much slower opening session.
A number of drivers made mistakes as they got to grips with the 14-corner track, which is laid out around Paris's Les Invalides complex.
Daniel Abt went off in both sessions, under braking for the bumpy Turn 1 and Turn 8 respectively, while Bruno Senna locked up and ran straight on at Turn 1 before bouncing back to set the sixth-quickest time in FP2.
Robin Frijns had a quick spin in his Andretti Autosport entry, while the only stoppage across both sessions was caused by Jerome d'Ambrosio midway through FP1, who crawled to a halt on track when a technical problem hit his Venturi-powered Dragon car.
FP1 TIMES
Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Sebastien Buemi | e.dams | 1m02.841s | - | 26 |
2 | Lucas di Grassi | Abt | 1m02.981s | 0.140s | 26 |
3 | Stephane Sarrazin | Venturi | 1m03.032s | 0.191s | 24 |
4 | Sam Bird | Virgin | 1m03.099s | 0.258s | 28 |
5 | Mike Conway | Venturi | 1m03.228s | 0.387s | 24 |
6 | Loic Duval | Dragon | 1m03.365s | 0.524s | 21 |
7 | Daniel Abt | Abt | 1m03.474s | 0.633s | 25 |
8 | Bruno Senna | Mahindra | 1m03.570s | 0.729s | 32 |
9 | Nick Heidfeld | Mahindra | 1m03.611s | 0.770s | 25 |
10 | Nelson Piquet Jr. | China | 1m03.618s | 0.777s | 28 |
11 | Jean-Eric Vergne | Virgin | 1m03.640s | 0.799s | 24 |
12 | Robin Frijns | Andretti | 1m03.682s | 0.841s | 22 |
13 | Antonio Felix da Costa | Aguri | 1m03.734s | 0.893s | 17 |
14 | Simona de Silvestro | Andretti | 1m03.789s | 0.948s | 27 |
15 | Nicolas Prost | e.dams | 1m03.855s | 1.014s | 28 |
16 | Oliver Turvey | China | 1m03.903s | 1.062s | 31 |
17 | Ma Qinghua | Aguri | 1m05.932s | 3.091s | 13 |
18 | Jerome d'Ambrosio | Dragon | 1m07.352s | 4.511s | 14 |
FP2 TIMES
Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Mike Conway | Venturi | 1m01.386s | - | 23 |
2 | Jean-Eric Vergne | Virgin | 1m01.396s | 0.010s | 21 |
3 | Sam Bird | Virgin | 1m01.587s | 0.201s | 14 |
4 | Lucas di Grassi | Abt | 1m01.621s | 0.235s | 20 |
5 | Stephane Sarrazin | Venturi | 1m01.715s | 0.329s | 20 |
6 | Bruno Senna | Mahindra | 1m01.841s | 0.455s | 17 |
7 | Antonio Felix da Costa | Aguri | 1m01.924s | 0.538s | 18 |
8 | Nicolas Prost | e.dams | 1m01.994s | 0.608s | 20 |
9 | Robin Frijns | Andretti | 1m02.038s | 0.652s | 13 |
10 | Daniel Abt | Abt | 1m02.143s | 0.757s | 20 |
11 | Simona de Silvestro | Andretti | 1m02.183s | 0.797s | 16 |
12 | Loic Duval | Dragon | 1m02.203s | 0.817s | 22 |
13 | Sebastien Buemi | e.dams | 1m02.258s | 0.872s | 21 |
14 | Nelson Piquet Jr. | China | 1m02.275s | 0.889s | 20 |
15 | Nick Heidfeld | Mahindra | 1m02.481s | 1.095s | 12 |
16 | Jerome d'Ambrosio | Dragon | 1m02.737s | 1.351s | 24 |
17 | Oliver Turvey | China | 1m03.267s | 1.881s | 24 |
18 | Ma Qinghua | Aguri | 1m03.407s | 2.021s | 24 |
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