Nico Muller topped Formula E's first ever rookie test in Marrakesh for Audi Sport Abt Schaeffler, leading the way by almost one second.
The test, which was reserved for drivers without a Formula E licence, attracted a number of big-name drivers, including Ferrari's reserve driver Antonio Giovinazzi and Paul di Resta who was in contention for a Formula 1 drive with Williams in 2018.
While the morning part of the session was topped by di Resta who represented Jaguar, Muller performed long runs while on the other side of the Audi garage, Nyck de Vries failed to complete a lap due to ongoing reliability problems for the German marque while driving both of Lucas di Grassi's cars which suffered from technical issues throughout Saturday in Marrakesh.
With five minutes remaining of the afternoon session, Muller set a record-breaking lap around the Circuit Moulay El Hassan, breaking Daniel Abt's previous record that was set in FP2 ahead of the Marrakesh ePrix with a 1:19.651.
Muller's nearest challenger overall was Pietro Fittipaldi in the second Jaguar car, 0.946 seconds adrift of the Audi. Formula 2 ace Maximilian Gunther ended the day in third fastest for Dragon Racing, one second adrift of the pacesetting time with his best lap from the day.
Di Resta's efforts placed the former Force India driver in fourth fastest in the overall standings, closely followed by his fellow countryman, James Rossiter who represented Techeetah, 0.020 seconds of the Jaguar in fifth.
Daniel Juncadella finished the day in sixth place for Mahindra Racing followed by Antonio Giovinazzi who was the highest placed DS Virgin driver in seventh.
Andrea Caldarelli ended the day in eighth place followed by Joel Eriksson in ninth. De Vries rounded out the top ten in the second Audi, 1.457 seconds slower than Muller in the same machinery although the Dutchman had limited running throughout the day.
Outside of the top ten, Alexander Albon was the fastest Renault e.dams driver in 13th fastest overall while Michael Benyahia rounded out the table with the slowest time for Venturi on home soil.
The day saw a number of stoppages, with Caldarelli bringing out the first red flag of the day after crashing in the morning session while a dog out on track brought a second halt in the morning. In the afternoon, Mitsunori Takaboshi, Benyahia and Bruno Spengler all caused disruptions.
Discussion about this post