Vergne tops opening Misano E-Prix practice

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Vergne tops opening Misano E-Prix practice

Formula E

Vergne tops opening Misano E-Prix practice

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Jean-Eric Vergne led a DS Penske sweep of the top two positions in the opening practice session for this weekend’s Misano E-Prix doubleheader.

The Frenchman’s best time of 1m17.546 was 0.197s quicker than teammate Stoffel Vandoorne, while Jehan Daruvala showed strongly to go third quickest for Maserati MSG Racing, which runs the same powertrain developed by sister Stellantis brand DS Automobiles.

Vergne split the Jaguar TCS Racing pair of Nick Cassidy and Mitch Evans, while Nico Mueller was sixth quickest for Abt Cupra.

Sebastien Buemi was seventh for Envision Racing, ahead of NEOM McLaren’s Sam Bird, with TAG Heuer Porsche’s Pascal Wehrlein and ERT’s Sergio Sette Camara completing the top-10.

In a session where drivers pushed to find the limits on the grass- and gravel-lined track — unusual for street circuit-centric Formula E — multiple drivers ventured off course, with McLaren driver Jake Hughes, Vandoorne and Daruvala all venturing beyond the tarmac at points in the 30-minute session.

Outside the top-10, Oliver Rowland wound up 11th for Nissan, ahead of Dan Ticktum in the other ERT entry, Lucas di Grassi in the second Abt Cupra, and Hughes. Sacha Fenestras ended the session 16th for Nissan, ahead of reigning champion Jake Dennis, who finished two three spots ahead of teammate Norman Nato, Robin Frijns (Envision) and Nyck de Vries (Mahindra) separating the Andrtetti duo.

Tokyo E-Prix winner Maximilian Guenther wound up 21st after a tricky session where he came to a brief stop at Turn 12 after struggling with brake issues with his Maserati.

Mahindra driver Edoardo Mortara failed to set a time during the due to battery issues for his car earlier in the day when Jordan King was driving in the rookie practice session. The problem required a complete battery change which wasn’t completed before FP1.

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