Jaguar TCS Racing’s Mitch Evans has set the early pace in this weekend’s Shanghai E-Prix, topping the time sheets in the first practice session, which was significantly delayed after a number of cars came to a stop out on track.
The Kiwi went fastest with a time of 1:13.215, just two one hundredths of a second quicker than Andretti’s Norman Nato, with Jean-Eric Vergne third, just five hundredths adrift.
Jake Hughes was fourth [1:13.281s], Oliver Rowland fifth [1:13.287s] and Antonio Felix da Costa sixth [1:13.352s]. The two main title contenders, Pascal Wehrlein and Nick Cassidy, were ninth and 11th respectively, with Jake Dennis 14th.
Sam Bird, returning after three races off with a fractured hand, was 16th [1:13.558s].
The session was only five minutes old when cars, including both Tag Heuer Porsches and both ERTs came to a halt, with all cars requiring flatbed trucks to take them pack to the pit lane.
Andretti team boss Roger Griffiths said that it is likely a software update on the cars, installed by WAE between Berlin and Shanghai, was the cause of the issue. A reset of the cars to the previous software is now a possibility.
