Envision Virgin Racing had a competitive start to the Monaco E-Prix despite suffering from traffic in the second practice session.
The 22 ABB Formula E drivers had to get to grips with a shorter version of the Monaco street track that measures at 1.760km, which is the shortest circuit Formula E will race on this season.
With a smaller track come the increasing threats of traffic during your hot laps, which both Sam Bird and Robin Frijns did well to avoid in the opening practice session of the day.
Both drivers got to grips with layout quickly as Frijns and Bird were comfortably within the top five throughout the session, and the team were sitting first and second at the halfway point.
The lap times started to improve in the closing few minutes, and Bird put his Envision Virgin Racing car in second place with a lap time of a 50.255, which was just 0.072 behind Lucas Di Grassi’s best effort.
Frijns just missed out on the top five, by finishing in seventh. The Paris race winner was two-tenths off the Di Grassi’s time.
In the final 30-minute practice session, both drivers tried to set their 250kW laps early in the session despite the track not being at its quickest.
However, both drivers encountered traffic on their hot laps which meant that Bird ended the session in P10 with Frijns in P19.
Next up for the team is qualifying which gets underway at 11:45 am local time. With Frijns’ being the current championship leader, he will qualify in group one, with Bird qualifying in group two.