Mahindra Racing's new signing Oliver Rowland hit the top of the timesheets in the opening Free Practice 1 session of Season 8 in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia - 0.158 seconds up on Antonio Felix da Costa (DS TECHEETAH) with Jake Dennis (Avalanche Andretti) third.
The Yorkshireman's final lap of FP1 - a 1m10.559s - was enough to pip double champion da Costa's benchmark, with Rowland getting the car hooked up at the end of a tricky half-hour's running.
WAYS TO WATCH: Where and how to watch every minute of Season 8
Reigning champion Nyck de Vries (Mercedes-EQ) struck the wall into Turn 3 inside the first five minutes, with the rear of his Silver Arrow 02 getting sideways and damage enough to force the Dutchman into retiring the car from the session at Turn 13 - throwing a Full Course Yellow.
Porsche's Andre Lotterer saws away at the wheel mid-way through FP1
Tricky conditions
The Riyadh Street Circuit in Diriyah is always a tough nut to crack during the opening sessions of an E-Prix. Sitting in the Saudi desert means its subject to a fine coating of sand and dust if the wind gets up and Free Practice 1 is the first time the 11 teams and 22 drivers head on-track in anger to sweep the surface. The track evolves and gets faster as it cleans up, with drivers saying it can be as much as five or six seconds slower through the opening laps of the weekend.
SCHEDULE: All the timings for the Diriyah E-Prix
As conditions started to come to the drivers, Nissan e.dams new boy Maximilian Guenther set the target for the rest to chase mid-way through FP1. His 1m12.524s crept inside the earlier pace of Jaguar TCS Racing's Mitch Evans by a tenth of a second before the laptimes really started to tumble inside the final minutes of the session.
Jake Dennis (Avalanche Andretti Motorsport) ultimately went third quickest, with Jean-Eric Vergne (DS TECHEETAH), Evans, Edoardo Mortara (ROKiT Venturi Racing) rounding out the top six.
FANBOOST
The votes for FANBOOST ahead of Round 1 so far sees an advantage for newcomer Antonio Giovinazzi (DRAGON / PENSKE AUTOSPORT) with the former Alfa Romeo F1 man heading the way from Antonio Felix da Costa (DS TECHEETAH). Mercedes-EQ's Stoffel Vandoorne and Nyck de Vries follow with another rookie, Dan Ticktum (NIO 333), currently in line for a boost in fifth.
YOUR VOTE COUNTS! Give your favourite driver a power-boost with FANBOOST
Coverage of Free Practice 2 follows at 13:30 local time tomorrow, with qualifying ahead of the 2022 Diriyah E-Prix Round 1 to come at 15:40 with the race itself at 20:00. In the meantime, catch up with the full preview.