Beijing Formula E: Lucas di Grassi leads opening practice for Abt
The first practice for this weekend's inaugural Formula E Championship event in Beijing was topped by Lucas di Grassi for the Audi-backed Abt team
The Brazilian ended up fastest in the opening 45-minute period of free practice with a 1m41.937s lap around the 2.11-mile Beijing ePrix street circuit.
That put him more than half a second up on his closest rival, Sebastien Buemi in the best of the e.dams squad's pair of Spark-Renault SRT_01E one-make electric racers.
Buemi's time of 1m42.902s placed him four tenths ahead of third-placed Virgin Racing driver Sam Bird.
Fourth place was taken by Nicolas Prost on a 1m42.961s in the second e.dams car from Karun Chandhok in the best of the Carlin-run Mahindra Racing entries.
Team-mate Bruno Senna, who ended up 15th in the times, looked set to snatch the top spot in the dying seconds of the session.
The second Mahindra car was half a second up on di Grassi at the second split when it was baulked at the final corner .
There is a further 30 minutes of free practice session ahead of qualifying and the 25-lap race, which starts at just after 4pm local time (9am BST).
Follow the inaugural Formula E race as it happens with AUTOSPORT Race Centre Live from 9am UK time on Saturday
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lucas di Grassi | Abt | 1m41.937s | - |
| 2 | Sebastien Buemi | e.dams | 1m42.510s | 0.573s |
| 3 | Sam Bird | Virgin | 1m42.902s | 0.965s |
| 4 | Nicolas Prost | e.dams | 1m42.961s | 1.024s |
| 5 | Karun Chandhok | Mahindra | 1m43.220s | 1.283s |
| 6 | Jerome d'Ambrosio | Dragon | 1m43.539s | 1.602s |
| 7 | Daniel Abt | Abt | 1m43.626s | 1.689s |
| 8 | Franck Montagny | Andretti | 1m44.102s | 2.165s |
| 9 | Charles Pic | Andretti | 1m44.182s | 2.245s |
| 10 | Jarno Trulli | Trulli | 1m44.520s | 2.583s |
| 11 | Stephane Sarrazin | Venturi | 1m44.522s | 2.585s |
| 12 | Ho-Pin Tung | China | 1m44.839s | 2.902s |
| 13 | Nelson Piquet Jr. | China | 1m45.146s | 3.209s |
| 14 | Takuma Sato | Aguri | 1m45.450s | 3.513s |
| 15 | Bruno Senna | Mahindra | 1m45.469s | 3.532s |
| 16 | Jaime Alguersuari | Virgin | 1m45.982s | 4.045s |
| 17 | Nick Heidfeld | Venturi | 1m46.579s | 4.642s |
| 18 | Michela Cerruti | Trulli | 1m46.778s | 4.841s |
| 19 | Oriol Servia | Dragon | 1m50.872s | 8.935s |
| 20 | Katherine Legge | Aguri | 1m51.850s | 9.913s |
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