Reigning champion Lucas di Grassi (Audi Sport ABT Shaeffer)set the pace with a record lap - the fastest ever set in Marrakesh for the all-electric series - with a time of 1:20.310.

A full 1.2-seconds quicker than Mahindra Racing's Felix Rosenqvist's Pole lap in Marrakesh last year, the lap shows the level of continuous development within the series but is also a sign that the champ may be back on track after an unremarkable performance in Hong Kong.

At the other end of the spectrum, Venturi Formula E Team's cars - piloted by Edoardo Mortara Maro Engel - were plagued with reliability problems, as both cars stopped on track a number of times. Could we see a repeat of the technical difficulties the team faced at pre-season testing in Valencia?

Third on the timesheets - despite not posting a full 200kW lap - was Audi Sport ABT Shaeffler driver Daniel Abt who posted a time of 1:21.577.

"The plan is to take a lot of points back but we have to go step by step...there's still another practice and qualifying to go," said the 25-year-old German driver.

"We have a good package - this should be more like Valencia pre-season testing where we were strong. You've just got to make the most of it."

On his first outing - after Kamui Kobayashi temporarily took his seat in Hong Kong - MS&AD Andretti Formula E's rookie driver Tom Blomqvist resembled his rally driver father - Stig Blomqvist - as he battled to keep the car on the track.

But for US team Dragon - after a disastrous performance in Hong Kong - Jerome D'Ambrosio posted the second fastest time of the session with a 1:21.224 lap. Could this be the start of a dramatic comeback team?