Punta ePrix: Prost quickest in FP2, Buemi hits the wall
Nico Prost ensured a Renault e.dams sweep of the practice sessions by topping FP2, while teammate Sebastien Buemi ruined his suspension with an early shunt.
Photo by: Fabian Lujan/ASN Media
However, weekend favourite Buemi managed to rejoin the session in the final minutes and took third place, he and Prost split by championship leader Lucas di Grassi.
After crashing out in FP1, DS Virgin's Sam Bird took the early lead with a full-power run, albeit came up short of his best time of the weekend.
Buemi was also among the drivers pushing from the get-go but ended up launching himself over a kerb, which sent him straight into the wall at a high speed and damaged his front left suspension.
"I just went a bit too quick in the corner. It's not the end of the world but it's not really good," Buemi said after the crash, while Alain Prost confirmed the team would need to change the gearbox casing on the wrecked car.
Bird's benchmark stood until just past halfway point, when Stephane Sarrazin took three tenths off his time - only to be immediately pipped by Antonio Felix da Costa.
Daniel Abt then looked set to pass both with his full-power effort, but, after setting a session-best third sector, he lost the car at high speed at the chicane and smacked the wall.
The German ended up demolishing his rear wing and, while he did manage to bring the car back to the pits, a red flag was needed to clean up the debris.
As the session resumed with six minutes to go, Buemi rejoined the track on his second car and immediately went to the top spot.
However, the remainder of the session would belong to his teammate Prost, who soon took over in first place and then posted a 1m15.405, which would stand as the best lap of the session.
Behind di Grassi and Buemi, Jerome d'Ambrosio took fourth, ahead of Andretti's Robin Frijns, who sat out most of the session but vaulted himself up the order late on.
Felix da Costa finished sixth, ahead of Sarrazin, Loic Duval, Bird and Oliver Turvey.
Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Nicolas Prost | DAMS | 1:15.405 | 1:15.405 |
2 | Lucas di Grassi | Audi Sport Team Abt | 1:15.539 | +0.134 |
3 | Sébastien Buemi | DAMS | 1:15.694 | +0.289 |
4 | Jérôme d'Ambrosio | Dragon Racing | 1:15.720 | +0.315 |
5 | Robin Frijns | Andretti Autosport | 1:15.860 | +0.455 |
6 | Antonio Felix da Costa | Team Aguri | 1:16.246 | +0.841 |
7 | Stéphane Sarrazin | Venturi | 1:16.324 | +0.919 |
8 | Loic Duval | Dragon Racing | 1:16.635 | +1.230 |
9 | Sam Bird | Virgin Racing | 1:16.646 | +1.241 |
10 | Oliver Turvey | China Racing | 1:16.853 | +1.448 |
11 | Jacques Villeneuve | Venturi | 1:16.919 | +1.514 |
12 | Daniel Abt | Audi Sport Team Abt | 1:17.618 | +2.213 |
13 | Nathanael Berthon | Team Aguri | 1:17.780 | +2.375 |
14 | Jean-Eric Vergne | Virgin Racing | 1:17.788 | +2.383 |
15 | Simona de Silvestro | Andretti Autosport | 1:17.790 | +2.385 |
16 | Nelson Piquet Jr. | China Racing | 1:17.794 | +2.389 |
17 | Bruno Senna | Mahindra Racing | 1:18.038 | +2.633 |
18 | Oliver Rowland | Mahindra Racing | 1:18.508 | +3.103 |
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