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Speedy Swede Rosenqvist tops FP2 in Switzerland

In what was the last chance for the drivers and teams to tune up their cars ahead of qualifying in Zurich, it was Mahindra’s speedy Swede who topped the timesheets in Free Practice 2, as Felix Rosenqvist set the quickest time.

It was a frantic 30-minute session with many drivers locking up and brushing the walls. Jaguar’s Mitch Evans who set the early pace, the Kiwi putting in a time of 1:12.261 to top the timesheets after just a few minutes.

After a few drivers – including British duo Oliver Turvey and Alex Lynn – briefly went off track but could rejoin the action, the likes of Jose Maria Lopez, Jean-Eric Vergne and Jerome d’Ambrosio started to put in quick times but were unable to topple Evans.

With just over 11 minutes to go in the session, Rosenqvist turned his Mahindra up to 200kw mode and was able to put in a rapid lap to top the standings. His 1:12.207 was 0.212 seconds off the quickest time set by Lucas di Grassi in FP1 however.

In the minutes that followed, more and more drivers went onto 200kw laps in order to try to knock the Swede off the top. However there was a lot of traffic out on track as well as several localised yellows, meaning that many drivers were unable to put in quick times.

One driver who was able to improve was Jerome d’Ambrosio, the Dragon driver moving up to third with nine minutes to go. Meanwhile Sebastien Buemi, one of the lucky drivers celebrating a home race today, spun into the wall as he attempted his own 200kw lap.

With three minutes left in the session, both Evans and Lopez went off track as they tried to improve their times. And just a minute later Lopez spun off for the second time. Nonetheless, the Argentine driver was able to finish the session in fourth place.

There was some late drama as Techeetah’s Andre Lotterer clattered into the back of Renault e.dams’ Nicolas Prost, knocking the Frenchman’s rear wing askew. This put the cherry on the cake of a poor session for Prost, who was only able to go 18th quickest ahead of Luca Filippi and Antonio Felix da Costa, the Portuguese driver managing just a few laps.

As the chequered flag fell, it was Rosenqvist who held on to first place ahead of Evans, d’Ambrosio, Lopez and Lynn. Completing the top 10 were championship rivals Bird and Vergne, ahead of Lotterer, Buemi and Piquet.

Qualifying will take place at 14:00 local time.

PosForenameSurnameLapsGap
1FelixROSENQVIST2001:12.207
2MitchEVANS140.054
3JérômeD'AMBROSIO90.388
4José MariaLOPEZ120.394
5AlexLYNN170.413
6SamBIRD180.458
7Jean-EricVERGNE150.477
8AndréLOTTERER150.595
9SébastienBUEMI140.641
10NelsonPIQUET120.688
11MaroENGEL180.704
12NickHEIDFELD130.761
13LucasDI GRASSI191.018
14OliverTURVEY161.238
15EdoardoMORTARA181.268
16DanielABT121.287
17StéphaneSARRAZIN171.293
18NicolasPROST121.428
19LucaFILIPPI181.614
20Antonio FelixDA COSTA82.027

Laurence Thorn

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