The Audi Sport ABT driver was a whopping 0.7s quicker than the chasing pack, headed by the e.dams-Renault of Sebastien Buemi. But the story of the session was the huge crash suffered by Jean-Eric Vergne.

The Frenchman was driving around the outside of di Grassi through Turn 5 when he lost the rear and whacked his Andretti Formula E entry into the wall. There was substantial damage to the rear and left-hand side of the car, but Vergne was unhurt.

It was a tough session for a number of drivers. Vitantonio Liuzzi had limited running for Trulli after suffering suspension problems. Charles Pic running in the re-liveried China Racing car had his session cut short by a fluid leak, while Bruno Senna did only six laps for Mahindra.

Nicolas Prost (e.dams-Renault) was third fastest, Stephane Sarrazin a solid fourth for Venturi, while Daniel Abt (ABT) and Scott Speed (Andretti) rounded out the top six.