ePrix de Paris: First training sessions and initial observations
You had to be an early riser this morning to witness the first laps of the Formula E cars in the heart of the French capital: at 8.15am, the drivers were able to discover the 1.920 kilometers of the Circuit des Invalides. Initial trends are emerging...
Two sessions dominated by Buemi and Conway.
To start this race Saturday, the drivers had two Free Practice sessions, lasting 45 and 30 minutes respectively.
The first real benchmark time was set in Free Practice 1 by Sébastien 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. Stéphane Sarrazin, Sam Bird, and Mike Conway completed the Top 5.
Final times from free practice 1.
What did you make of that session? #ParisePrix pic.twitter.com/hz1hH2qjBX— FIA Formula E (@FIAformulaE) April 23, 2016
On his side, the second Free Practice session saw the best time from Conway, with a 1:01.386.
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 Stéphane Sarrazin.
The Renault e.Dams were further back: in eighth and thirteenth place with Nico Prost and Sébastien Buemi.
Nevertheless, it is important to take a step back: the teams’ programs may be radically different, some focusing on performance, others on consistency.
The striking image from this second session will remain the accident of Stéphane 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.
The very short Paris circuit seems to appeal to the Venturi team, which might be able to join the fight for victory!
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.
But not all drivers accumulated as much track time: Jérôme d’Ambrosio had a complicated first session, bringing his Dragon to a stop on the main straight.
D’Ambrosio’s car returns #ParisePrix pic.twitter.com/CkRXig4Dhg
— Luke Smith (@LukeSmithF1) April 23, 2016
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.
A track finally very bumpy!
-Les premiers tours autour des Invalides ont révélé une tendance générale : malgré le revêtement temporaire, la piste est très bosselée, notamment dans la ligne droite principale. Le freinage du premier virage s’annonce particulièrement périlleux. Tout comme le dernier virage, qui présente une belle bosse sur la partie intérieure du freinage.
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WATCH @sambirdracing @DSVirginRacing clip the wall and break his rear suspension #ParisePrix https://t.co/oY3kKlIO5s
— FIA Formula E (@FIAformulaE) April 23, 2016
–Comme annoncé dans notre présentation, les courbes entre le virage 2 et le virage 5 (autour de la place Vauban), puis entre le virage 11 et le virage 13 (entrée de la pit-lane) seront également très difficiles. Les pilotes rencontrent beaucoup de sous-virage.
-Plus que jamais les murs semblent très proches. D’autant plus que les dégagements sont très étroits.
Contacts between cars will be very frequent and you’ll have to elbow your way through to overtake!
WATCH @nico_prost @RENAULTedams narrowly avoiding @Daniel_Abt @abt_formula_e #ParisePrix https://t.co/8ahZ32lRn4
— FIA Formula E (@FIAformulaE) April 23, 2016
-Enfin, les pilotes devront s’adapter avec un départ en légère montée, qui risque fort de compliquer les procédures !
In any case, stay tuned to our site for the continuation of the hostilities of this Paris ePrix!
The Qualifications are in sight, with the session set to begin at 12 o’clock.
