Rob LomasRobin Frijns topped the timesheets for Envision Virgin Racing in New York in a curtailed opening practice session.
The session was red-flagged after Jaguar’s Sam Bird crashed at the final corner, having set the fastest sector 2 time of anyone.
The British driver had seemingly clipped the wall on the apex which then ricocheted him into the tecpro barrier on the outside, a hypothesis which was backed up by team principal, James Barclay during an interview.
It also led to nobody being able to complete a lap with the full 250kw lap.
Oliver Turvey was second for NIO 333 with Maximillian Guenther third quickest for BMW with the top-5 being rounded out by Audi’s Lucas di Grassi and Porsche’s Pascal Wehrlein.
Joel Eriksson set the sixth-fastest time for Dragon ahead of Mercedes’ Stoffel Vandoorne and Mitch Evans in the other Jaguar.
The top ten was completed by Nissan’s Sebastien Buemi and Dragon’s Sergio Sette Camara.
Antonio Felix da Costa had a spin on the way into the hairpin at Turn 10, having just touched the wet patch on the way into the corner, but he was able to get going again.
Alex Lynn also stopped on track with a mechanical issue, but a quick power cycle was enough to get the car going again.
Bethonie Waring
