Conway grabs top spot in FP2

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Mike Conway topped the second free practice session for the inaugural Paris ePrix, edging out the DS Virgin Racing duo of Jean-Eric Vergne and Sam Bird.

The moment the green light was illuminated a multitude of cars piled out onto the track as drivers looked to get on top of the cold conditions. The Renault e.dams duo of Sebastien Buemi and Nico Prost were the first to set timed laps, with FP1 pace-setter Buemi topping the times early on.

Lucas di Grassi was able to split the pair early on, but the championship leader hadn’t yet run a full 200kW lap.

Not long after, Bird enjoyed a stint at the top as an almost-full circuit meant that constant improvements saw the timing screens play musical chairs with itself.

Five minutes into the session, a yellow flag was thrown as local driver Stephane Sarrazin locked his rear tyres under braking into turn eight and nudged his front wing into the wall. With the Venturi driver able to reverse out of the wall and return to the pits, there was no need for a red flag to be thrown.

Almost immediately after, session leader Bird had to limp back to the pits following a trip into the barrier at the final corner. The Englishman was able to return home safely, and it’s now up to the DS Virgin Racing mechanics to ensure his car is ready for qualifying.

There were problems for other drivers as well as Daniel Abt had a brief moment into turn eight as the German went straight on, with no real drama occurring as the Abt Schaeffler driver was able to get going again, followed shortly by Bruno Senna making the same mistake.

Following his earlier trip into the barrier, Sarrazin made up for lost time and made full use of his 200kW lap to go fastest with less than a quarter of an hour to go, but his time at the top was short lived as Senna went quickest of all before being trumped himself by Conway. Another quick time from Sarrazin slotted him in behind his team mate to make a Venturi 1-2.

As the track rubbered in and drivers got used to the colder conditions, the times started to tumble further with 200kW laps in effect across the circuit. However, no one was able to top Conway with Vergne managing to get the closest, only a mere 0.01s away from the Englishman.

Bird was able to hold onto the third fastest time ahead of di Grassi and Sarrazin, while Senna concluded a strong session in sixth. Antonio Felix da Costa ended in seventh, with Prost, Robin Frijns and Abt rounding out the top ten.

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Images courtesy of Rajan Jangda

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