Guenther leads first Jakarta Formula E practice

Maximilian Guenther topped opening practice for the Jakarta E-Prix, as the series marked its return to Indonesia after a one-year break.

When driving for Maserati in Season 9, Guenther claimed pole position for both races on what was then a doubleheader event, and won the second race of that weekend to give the Italian brand both its first pole(s) and race win in Formula E. Now driving for Stellantis stablemate DS Penske, he picked up where he left off by setting a 1m06.050s in a Friday evening session where grip was at a premium due to high dust levels.

Antonio Felix da Costa was second quickest for TAG Heuer Porsche, 0.292s off Guenther's table-topping time, with Mahindra's Edoardo Mortara a further 0.042s back in third.

Championship leader Oliver Rowland was fourth quickest despite a late trip into the barriers. The Nissan driver lost control entering Turn 2 with three minutes to go, spinning and backing into the wall, sustaining minor rear wing damage.

Nico Mueller was fifth for Andretti, ahead of the Jaguar TCS Racing duo for Mitch Evans and Nick Cassidy, with the Cupra Kiro pair of Dan Ticktum – who matched Mueller’s session-high lap count, with 24 tours completed – and David Beckmann being split by Jean-Eric Vergne in the other DS Penske at the tail end of the top-10.

Norman Nato ended up 11th for Nissan, having been unable to improve on his best time late in the session due to traffic. He beat Nyck de Vries, Jake Dennis, Taylor Barnard, and Sebastien Buemi, who had a half spin at Turn 16 with 18 minutes after running wide onto the dust.

The Maserati MSG Racing cars of Jake Hughes and Stoffel Vandoorne were next up in 16th and 17th, ahead of reigning champion Pascal Wehrlein who aborted a quick looking final push lap after running deep into Turn 16 and then missing the apex at the final corner.

Zane Maloney, Sam Bird, and Lucas di Grassi finished 19th through 21st, with Robin Frijns rounding out the field.

The Envision Racing driver's day ended after just five laps after a bolt connecting the bottom of the wishbone into the upright on the front right failed, sending him into the outside wall on the approach to Turn 7, him later coming to a rest in the wall of the Turn 7 run-off. As a result of his early exit, Frijns was the only driver to not complete a lap on 350 kW with four-wheel-drive.

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