Antonio Felix da Costa set the fastest time in FP3 for the Diriyah E-Prix, heading Race 1 winner Sam Bird in the 45-minute session.
The DS Techeetah driver, who joins the Franco-Chinese squad for Season 6, set a best lap of a 1:11.084 in the dying stages of the session, shooting to the top of the timesheets with his 250kW power run.
Race 1 winner Bird emerged as da Costa’s nearest challenger, with the Envision Virgin Racing driver trailing the Portuguese pilot by 0.022s to secure second while Alexander Sims was third for BMW i Andretti Motorsport, 0.093s off the pace.
Oliver Rowland showcased consistently competitive pace in FP3 for Nissan e.dams, with the British driver holding the fastest time for most of the session. Driving the IM02, Rowland ended the session in fourth.
Pascal Wehrlein completed the top five for Mahindra Racing while Robin Frijns followed the German in sixth behind the wheel of the second Envision Virgin car.
Daniel Abt fronted a 7-8 result for Audi Sport Abt Schaeffler, with the German racer outpacing Lucas di Grassi as the Season 3 Formula E champion finished 0.612s off the pace.
Maximilian Gunther was ninth in the second BMW iFE.20 while Mitch Evans completed the top 10 in Jaguar’s I-TYPE 4.
Outside of the top 10, Race 1 runner-up Andre Lotterer was 15th as the lead Porsche driver while his former team-mate and reigning champion Jean-Eric Vergne was last after picking up left-rear suspension damage at in the opening stages of the session.
A collision for James Calado in the second Jaguar reduced the British driver’s running while a trip down the Turn 18 escape road for NIO 333’s Oliver Turvey disrupted the early stages of the 32-year-old’s session.
