Formula E championship leader Mitch Evans drove a stunning lap for Jaguar to set the fastest time of the second Marrakesh practice session ahead of Saturday’s qualifying and race.
Uncharacteristic low temperatures and a grey sky at the beginning of the session meant improvements were regular as the track rubbered in and temperatures rose.
Sebastien Buemi had set the most impressive time of the early session for Nissan edams, topping the table with 12 of the 30 minute session remaining despite running on lower power than his rivals.
However, a number of teams delivered knockout qualifying simulations at the end of the session.
However, no one could touch the form man and most recent E-Prix winner Evans, who after clearing the field by over two tenths declared on the radio: “actually quite a bad lap.”
With Evans top heading into the final part of the session, Audi’s Lucas di Grassi and the Virgin driver Robin Frijns took second and third respectively, both within three tenths of the benchmark.
Pascal Wehrlein had topped the session for Mahindra but slid to fifth during the late improvements, but he and Andretti BMW’s Alexander Sims stayed within 0.4s of the leader’s time rounding out the top five.
Nyck de Vries was the top Mercedes driver in sixth, ahead of Sims team-mate Gunther who will undertake qualifying in group two thanks to his woeful Mexico weekend. He suffered from a number of moments where the rear got loose on his flying lap.
Edoardo Mortara was the fastest Venturi-run car as Felipe Massa had a lock-up on his fastest run. Mortara’s time was good enough for eighth.
Jaguar’s James Calado and Buemi’s team-mate Oliver Rowland rounded out the top 10.
Buemi slid to 11th after a disappointing full-power run, ahead of last year’s winner Jerome D’Ambrosio.
Andre Lotterer was the top Porsche in 13th, in what looks like a difficult weekend for the marque.
Frijns’ team-mate and regular frontrunner Sam Bird was 14th.
