NIO 333’s Dan Ticktum was quickest in the second practice of the Diriyah E-Prix, setting a time of 1:10.099.
Track conditions were challenging at the start of the session with plenty of desert dust settling overnight. Once a line cleared drivers picked up the pace, but struggled off the racing line causing some hairy moments around the tight and twisting Diriyah circuit.
The Chinese NIO 333 team had a strong session across the board with Ticktum’s teammate Sergio Sette Camara ending the session six-tenths behind Ticktum in sixth place.
Returning team ABT had another difficult session with Nico Muller hitting the wall after 12 minutes and breaking his rear suspension. The German team brought up the rear of the field with Muller in 22nd and debutant Kelvin Van der Linde in 21st.
The Jaguar-powered cars had another strong session with three of their four cars in the top five. Sebastian Buemi was the fastest of the Jaguar-powered cars ending the session two-tenths adrift of Ticktum in second place. The outlier was Nick Cassidy who struggled down in 20th and brought out a yellow flag towards the end of the session, spinning into the runoff.
DS Penske had another mixed session with reigning champion Vandoorne finishing the session in fourth while Jean-Eric Vergne struggled down in 14th.
McLaren also had another strong showing with Rene Rast and Jake Hughes coming home eighth and tenth respectively, with Rast outperforming rookie Hughes in practice for the first time this season.
Andretti’s Jake Dennis made it into the top ten again, wanting to continue his dominant form from the season opener two weeks ago. He came home ninth with his teammate Andre Lotterer finishing the session 13th.
Once again, Maserati struggled to unlock their pre-season testing pace, with both of their cars outside of the top ten. Edoardo Mortara finished the session 11th while Maximillian Gunther finished the session in 16th.
The action continues in Diriyah with qualifying coming at 15:40 local time.
