Daniel Abt, Lucas Di Grassi End Topsy-Turvy FP2 On Top for Audi

By Aaron Bearden, Contributing Writer

At the end of a chaotic Free Practice 2 in Morocco, the Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler duo of Daniel Abt and Lucas di Grassi were left standing a cut above the rest of the ABB FIA Formula E Championship field.

Abt laid down a new lap record of 1:19.760 in the closing moments of Saturday’s second pre-qualifying practice to lead the session, snatching the top spot from teammate di Grassi (1:19.898).

Sebastien Buemi (1:19.936) ended the session in third, with Mitch Evans (1:20.001), and Nelson Piquet Jr. (1:20.115) completing the top five. Finishing out the top 10 were Alex Lynn (1:20.192), Jose Maria Lopez (1:20.384), Felix Rosenqvist (1:20.391), Jean-Eric Vergne (1:20.411) and Andre Lotterer (1:20.441).

While Audi stood alone to end the session, the final 10 minutes saw the majority of the field in contention as they all laid down a set of full-power, 200kw circuits.

The track conditions – cold and increasingly foggy as the session went on – led to unique struggles for the paddock as they adapted to a surface that handled much differently than anticipated. No drivers looped their machines like had occurred in the day’s opening practice, but a host of the sport’s stars had close calls with disaster.

Rosenqvist was the first to find himself in trouble, locking up the brakes and sliding into a runoff area early in the session. Vergne went wide two separate times during his runs, and Sam Bird did the same, sliding up into the dust outside of Turn 1 before continuing on without issue.

Antonio Felix da Costa had arguably the most memorable session of any, salvaging what appeared to be an incoming shunt with a flawless drift early and being sent wide in an overtake by Lynn before briefly holding up the fast Rosenqvist in the waning moments of the session.

.@afelixdacosta is looking to muscle in on the drift battle between @NelsonPiquet and @FRosenqvist #MarrakeshEPrix pic.twitter.com/hCZbjhxinL

— ABB FIA Formula E Championship (@FIAFormulaE) January 13, 2018

Despite the close calls, in the end all 20 drivers survived their runs to completion without issue. The entire field completed nine or more laps in the session, with Edoardo Mortara running a grid-high 20 circuits as both he and teammate Maro Engel confirmed the durability of their Venturi Formula E Team machines after encountering a software bug in FP1.

The field will return in a few hours for qualifications. Coverage for American Formula E fans can be found on FOX Sports 2 at 11:30 a.m. ET.

Marrakesh E-Prix Free Practice 2 Results

Highlights from the final practice session of the morning #MarrakeshEPrix pic.twitter.com/7vR3BtHjkk

— ABB FIA Formula E Championship (@FIAFormulaE) January 13, 2018