Punta del Este Formula E: Virgin's Jaime Alguersuari leads practice
Ex-Toro Rosso Formula 1 racer Jaime Alguersuari set the pace during two frantic Formula E practice sessions in Punta del Este in Uruguay for Virgin Racing
In hot and sunny conditions at the beachside street track, the sandy surface caused all sorts of drama and the sessions were halted three times.
Alguersuari dodged the red flags and was the only man in the 1m15s bracket, with a quickest time of 1m15.930s.
The Spaniard was 0.145 seconds faster than Abt's Lucas di Grassi, with Stephane Sarrazin third quickest for Venturi.
Two-time pole-winner Prost was fourth fastest for DAMS, and had set the best lap in the first session with a 1m16.696s, which was just over a tenth clear of Daniel Abt and Jerome d'Ambrosio.
The incidents were sparked when Bruno Senna spun at Turn 1 in the opening session.
Trulli's Michele Cerruti then nosed into wall after locking the rears under braking at Turn 1, which caused the weekend's first red flag, although she was able to drive back to the pits.
In the second session, the second red flag was required to retrieve debris from Antonio Garcia's China Racing car after he smacked the wall at Turn 18.
He then damaged the rear of his second car in another crash, this time at Turn 17, later on.
Di Grassi sustained suspension damage when he hit one of the yellow 'banana kerbs'.
The pesky yellow kerb was the cause of the third red flag too when an Amlin Aguri car dislodged it at the quick chicane.
The kerbs also caused an issue for Andretti's Matthew Brabham, whose car suffered chassis damage when bolts from the kerbs worked lose and raked through the floor in the first session.
He currently only has one car at his disposal, and a space chassis has been delivered to the team.
PRACTICE ONE:
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nicolas Prost | e.dams | 1m16.696s | - |
| 2 | Daniel Abt | Abt | 1m16.828s | 0.132s |
| 3 | Jerome d'Ambrosio | Dragon | 1m16.959s | 0.263s |
| 4 | Sebastien Buemi | e.dams | 1m17.192s | 0.496s |
| 5 | Stephane Sarrazin | Venturi | 1m17.222s | 0.526s |
| 6 | Jean-Eric Vergne | Andretti | 1m17.395s | 0.699s |
| 7 | Jarno Trulli | Trulli | 1m17.581s | 0.885s |
| 8 | Bruno Senna | Mahindra | 1m17.628s | 0.932s |
| 9 | Matthew Brabham | Andretti | 1m17.675s | 0.979s |
| 10 | Karun Chandhok | Mahindra | 1m17.999s | 1.303s |
| 11 | Oriol Servia | Dragon | 1m18.013s | 1.317s |
| 12 | Antonio Felix da Costa | Aguri | 1m18.275s | 1.579s |
| 13 | Nick Heidfeld | Venturi | 1m18.319s | 1.623s |
| 14 | Antonio Garcia | China | 1m18.504s | 1.808s |
| 15 | Nelson Piquet Jr. | China | 1m18.713s | 2.017s |
| 16 | Lucas di Grassi | Abt | 1m19.058s | 2.362s |
| 17 | Sam Bird | Virgin | 1m19.611s | 2.915s |
| 18 | Jaime Alguersuari | Virgin | 1m19.791s | 3.095s |
| 19 | Michela Cerruti | Trulli | 1m20.358s | 3.662s |
| 20 | Salvador Duran | Aguri | 1m22.751s | 6.055s |
PRACTICE TWO:
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jaime Alguersuari | Virgin | 1m15.930s | - |
| 2 | Lucas di Grassi | Abt | 1m16.075s | 0.145s |
| 3 | Stephane Sarrazin | Venturi | 1m16.548s | 0.618s |
| 4 | Nicolas Prost | e.dams | 1m16.548s | 0.618s |
| 5 | Sebastien Buemi | e.dams | 1m16.600s | 0.670s |
| 6 | Nelson Piquet Jr. | China | 1m16.689s | 0.759s |
| 7 | Antonio Felix da Costa | Aguri | 1m16.716s | 0.786s |
| 8 | Jerome d'Ambrosio | Dragon | 1m17.006s | 1.076s |
| 9 | Nick Heidfeld | Venturi | 1m17.214s | 1.284s |
| 10 | Sam Bird | Virgin | 1m17.233s | 1.303s |
| 11 | Oriol Servia | Dragon | 1m17.502s | 1.572s |
| 12 | Jarno Trulli | Trulli | 1m17.660s | 1.730s |
| 13 | Daniel Abt | Abt | 1m17.885s | 1.955s |
| 14 | Jean-Eric Vergne | Andretti | 1m18.052s | 2.122s |
| 15 | Bruno Senna | Mahindra | 1m18.355s | 2.425s |
| 16 | Salvador Duran | Aguri | 1m18.701s | 2.771s |
| 17 | Antonio Garcia | China | 1m19.232s | 3.302s |
| 18 | Michela Cerruti | Trulli | 1m20.615s | 4.685s |
| 19 | Matthew Brabham | Andretti | 1m20.856s | 4.926s |
| 20 | Karun Chandhok | Mahindra | 1m22.910s | 6.980s |
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Matthew Brabham back in Andretti Formula E line-up for Uruguay
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Punta del Este Formula E: Debut pole for ex-F1 man Jean-Eric Vergne
About this article
| Series | Formula E |
| Drivers | Jaime Alguersuari |
| Teams | Virgin Racing , DS Virgin Racing |
| Author | Charles Bradley |
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