After setting the pace in FP1 at the Austrian Grand Prix, FIM Enel MotoE World Cup standings leader Niki Tuuli went over half a second quicker in the afternoon to sit 0.620 clear of second fastest Mattia Casadei, with Bradley Smith just 0.001 further back in P3.
Smith began the day as Tuuli’s closest challenger in the Championship and remained so as the top two ended FP1 at the top of the standings. However, no one could live with Tuuli’s FP2 pace as the Finn set a 1:35.225 on his third flying lap, his advantage remaining above half a second for most of the 30-minute session.
Casadei finished fourth in FP1 but the Italian was able to find a couple of tenths in the evening sun to jump to second overall, with Smith improving by only just under a tenth and therefore slipping down a spot to third.
Hector Garzo (Tech 3 E-Racing) was a big improver in FP2 to leap up to fourth from 10th in FP1, the Spaniard managing to find almost a second to sit 0.038 behind the number 38 on Day 1. Xavier Simeon (Avintia Esponsorama Racing) closed out the top five in the combined standings – just as he did in FP1.
Mike Di Meglio (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) was sixth fastest ahead of Matteo Ferrari (Trentino Gresini MotoE) and Niccolo Canepa (LCR E-Team). Eric Granado (Avintia Esponsorama Racing), who was ninth fastest, crashed in FP2 and headed to the medical centre for a checkup – rider ok. Maria Herrera (Openbank Angel Nieto Team) locked out the top ten.
Another headline on Day 1 was an incident ahead of FP2 as a fire broke out, with an investigation currently underway to determine the reasons behind it. The incident involved the bike of standings leader Tuuli, but the fire was immediately and safely extinguished by the fire department. MotoE™ action did and will continue as scheduled.
The MotoE™ riders will have an FP3 session on Saturday morning at 08:30 local time (GMT+2), before E-Pole takes place 16:00.