Dan Ticktum Sets Fastest Time of the Weekend in Diriyah FP2

Dan Ticktum started Friday at the Diriyah E-Prix in sublime fashion, as the British driver set the fastest time in Free Practice Two at the second round of the 2022/23 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, which was also the fastest time of the weekend so far. The NIO 333 Racing driver set the pace on a 1:10.099, with Sébastian Buemi two-tenths behind in second place. Rounding off the top three ahead of qualifying was Mitch Evans.

It was a beautiful afternoon in Diriyah, with the rain from the day before being nowhere to be seen, as only blissful sunshine could be seen for Free Practice Two. Given that the race takes place in the evening in Saudi Arabia, the daytime practice session is somewhat irrelevant for the race; however, it’s vitally important for qualifying which’ll take place in just over an hour.

It was Edoardo Mortara who led the cars out for the second session of the weekend, as the vast majority of the drivers quickly complained about how dusty the Riyadh Street Circuit was. Within the first five minutes of the session, the times were just over 1.5s slower than they were at the end of Free Practice One, with Sam Bird‘s 1:10.4s being the time to beat from Thursday evening. Mexico City E-Prix winner Jake Dennis was the early pacesetter on a 1:12.0; however, the times continued to tumble.

Lucas di Grassi endured a weird moment in the opening ten minutes, after his car went straight on at the end of the main straight, with both of his front-wheels having locked-up. Back at the front and it was Mortara who set the first sub 1:11.5 as the session moved into the final twenty minutes, to no shock though, Dennis quickly went faster on a 1:11.3. Whilst Dennis set the fastest-lap, things went from bad to worse for the ABT CUPRA Formula E Team, as Nico Mueller lost the rear and heavily hit the wall at Turn Seventeen, likely breaking his suspension. To no surprise, he pulled to the side of the circuit.

As the track rubbered in towards the halfway point in the sunny session, the times became much more representable, as Dennis, René Rast and Ticktum all broke into the high 1:10s, with Dennis being just three-tenths off the best time of the weekend so far. Away from the top of the timesheets, Norman Nato was investigated for speeding in the pitlane, with a fine the likely outcome. Back at the top and Buemi hit the top ahead of his one-hundredth race in Formula E, before Ticktum suddenly did the fastest lap of the weekend after sneaking into the 1:10.3s, once again showing that NIO have a seriously fast car for Gen3.

As the session entered the final eight minutes, Ticktum led the leaderboard from Evans and Buemi, as Jaguar’s powertrain looked to be suiting the tight and twisty Diriyah venue. Seconds later and Ticktum blitzed his own fastest time, after almost breaking into the 1:09s, thanks to a seriously impressive 1:10.099. Ticktum’s monster time put him almost five-tenths ahead of second-placed Evans, perhaps hailing the NIO driver as an early pole position favourite. Following a set-up change, Buemi jumped to second but still over two-tenths behind Ticktum, as the session entered its final three minutes.

As the session entered its final minute, the top of the leaderboard looked set to remain the same, with nobody having been able to come within two-tenths of Ticktum’s time. The NIO driver topped the session from Buemi and Evans, with Stoffel Vandoorne having claimed fourth. With just over an hour till qualifying it appears that Ticktum is the driver to beat, with the question being if qualifying will see the first 1:09 of the double-header weekend.

Diriyah E-Prix Round 2: Free Practice Two Full Results