Two sessions dominated by Buemi and Conway.<\/b><\/p>\n
To start this race Saturday, the drivers had two Free Practice sessions, lasting 45 and 30 minutes respectively.<\/p>\n
The first real benchmark time was set in Free Practice 1 by S\u00e9bastien Buemi. Driving his Renault e.Dams, the Swiss driver recorded a time of 1:02.841. The favorites were clearly wide awake: Lucas di Grassi finished this first warm-up just over a tenth behind his rival. St\u00e9phane Sarrazin, Sam Bird, and Mike Conway completed the Top 5.<\/p>\n
\nFinal times from free practice 1.
What did you make of that session? #ParisePrix<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/hz1hH2qjBX<\/a><\/p>\n\u2014 FIA Formula E (@FIAformulaE) April 23, 2016<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
On his side, the second Free Practice session saw the best time from Conway, with a 1:01.386.<\/p>\n
The Brit from Venturi was only ten thousandths ahead of the local, Jean-Eric Vergne. At full power (220 kilowatts available, or about 270 horsepower), the DS Virgin team felt reassured: Sam Bird completes the Top 3 of the second session. Following are Lucas Di Grassi and St\u00e9phane Sarrazin.<\/p>\n
The Renault e.Dams were further back: in eighth and thirteenth place with Nico Prost and S\u00e9bastien Buemi.<\/p>\n
Nevertheless, it is important to take a step back: the teams’ programs may be radically different, some focusing on performance, others on consistency.<\/p>\n
The striking image from this second session will remain the accident of St\u00e9phane Sarrazin, who hit the wall at the first corner. Positioned slightly too far inside, the 40-year-old French driver had quite a scare by damaging his suspension. However, he can be reassured by the good form of his car.<\/p>\n
The very short Paris circuit seems to appeal to the Venturi team, which might be able to join the fight for victory!<\/p>\n
Beyond the rankings, it’s also interesting to highlight consistency. Oliver Turvey stood out on this occasion by completing a total of 55 laps during the first 75 minutes of running, 10 laps more than the total duration of the ePrix. Several drivers also reached this symbolic mark, such as the two Renault e.Dams drivers, the two ABT Schaeffler drivers, as well as Mike Conway and Nelson Piquet.<\/p>\n
But not all drivers accumulated as much track time: J\u00e9r\u00f4me d’Ambrosio had a complicated first session, bringing his Dragon to a stop on the main straight.<\/p>\n
\nD’Ambrosio’s car returns #ParisePrix<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/CkRXig4Dhg<\/a><\/p>\n
\u2014 Luke Smith (@LukeSmithF1) April 23, 2016<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
At the bottom of the timesheet, the most struggling driver appeared to be Ma Qing Hua for Team Aguri. The Chinese driver finished the first session more than three seconds off the pace before gradually making up ground on the rest of the pack! However, he clearly has an excuse, having only learned of his participation late this week, in place of Salvador Duran.<\/p>\n
A track finally very bumpy!<\/b><\/p>\n
-Les premiers tours autour des Invalides ont r\u00e9v\u00e9l\u00e9 une tendance g\u00e9n\u00e9rale\u00a0: malgr\u00e9 le rev\u00eatement temporaire, la piste est tr\u00e8s bossel\u00e9e, notamment dans la ligne droite principale. Le freinage du premier virage s’annonce particuli\u00e8rement p\u00e9rilleux. Tout comme le dernier virage, qui pr\u00e9sente une belle bosse sur la partie int\u00e9rieure du freinage.<\/p>\n
&<\/p>\n
\nWATCH @sambirdracing<\/a> @DSVirginRacing<\/a> clip the wall and break his rear suspension #ParisePrix<\/a> https:\/\/t.co\/oY3kKlIO5s<\/a><\/p>\n
\u2014 FIA Formula E (@FIAformulaE) April 23, 2016<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
–Comme annonc\u00e9 dans notre pr\u00e9sentation,<\/a> les courbes entre le virage 2 et le virage 5 (autour de la place Vauban), puis entre le virage 11 et le virage 13 (entr\u00e9e de la pit-lane) seront \u00e9galement tr\u00e8s difficiles. Les pilotes rencontrent beaucoup de sous-virage.<\/p>\n
-Plus que jamais les murs semblent tr\u00e8s proches. D’autant plus que les d\u00e9gagements sont tr\u00e8s \u00e9troits.<\/p>\n
Contacts between cars will be very frequent and you’ll have to elbow your way through to overtake!<\/p>\n
\nWATCH @nico_prost<\/a> @RENAULTedams<\/a> narrowly avoiding @Daniel_Abt<\/a> @abt_formula_e<\/a> #ParisePrix<\/a> https:\/\/t.co\/8ahZ32lRn4<\/a><\/p>\n