Chloe Chambers held on to claim top spot in the morning of the Formula E women’s test. The Mahindra driver’s time of a 1m.23.584 was enough to keep her clear of Abbi Pulling in second for Nissan.
Chadwick charging early on
As the session began the benchmark was set by Jaguar’s Jamie Chadwick.
After half an hour, the British driver’s time of a 1m.25.600 saw her 0.991s quicker than the second fastest time.
Running was largely uninterrupted apart for a brief yellow flag at turn 7 for Tatiana Calderon. The Citroën driver found the escape road having spun exiting the back straight.
Despite the brief hiccup, Calderon would finish the first hour seventh with a 1.27.55.
With Mitch Evans in the Jaguar garage both their drivers were flying.
After Chambers went to the top briefly with a 1m25.180s, Super Formula star Juju Noda reclaimed top spot for Jaguar.
A 1.24.78 put the Japanese driver 0.396s clear of Chambers behind, leaving Noda top after the first hour.
Noda stands firm up front
As the clock ticked down no one could shift Noda from the top of the time sheets.
The Jaguar driver improved on her best lap time, a 1.24.54 putting her 0.386s clear of Pulling in second and Powell in third.
With half of the session gone Noda remained at the top but, with an hour remaining, Powell shot to the front of the field.
A 1.24.13 put her 0.406s clear of Noda while elsewhere Chambers moved herself further up the order, a 1.24.79 putting her 0.657s adrift of the Envision up front.
Home hero Marti
Home hero Nerea Martí found herself in touching distance of the front of the field with an hour to go.
The Spaniard’s time of a 1.25.000 putting her 0.874s adrift down in fifth.
That changed though when Noda returned to the top of the times with half an hour remaining, becoming the first driver of the day to dip into the 1m23.
The Jaguar driver found herself 0.160s clear of Powell in second as drivers returned to the pits before their final flying laps.
Chambers climbs to the top
With 15 minutes remaining, Chambers set the time to beat with a 1.23.58 sending her to the top.
Her position at the front looked in doubt as the final few minutes of the session dragged on but the American held on to finish the session top.
Abbi Pulling found herself jumping up from fourth to second at the chequered flag, clear of third place Jamie Chadwick who also jumped her teammate at the end.
Feature Image courtesy of Formula E