Bird tops chaotic first practice session ahead of the Buenos Aires ePrix

DS Virgin driver Sam Bird was fastest in a dramatic opening practice session for the 2015/16 Buenos Aires ePrix.

The first session was disrupted by a number of incidents. Firstly, Simona De Silvestro crashed heavily in the pitlane bringing out the red flag, the Swiss racer admitted to her team immediately after that it was her mistake.

The session eventually resumed but would be hit with further delays in the final 10 minutes as yellows were drawn for a dog on track and for Robin Frijns stopping on track.
But it was Sam Bird topped the session with a respectable 1:09.913 and he was one of the few drivers not to have his full power lap disrupted by yellow flags.

Behind the ex-GP2 driver was Daniel Abt in second place who was 0.389 seconds back and was followed by the reigning Formula E champion Nelson Piquet Jr who finished the session 0.035 seconds ahead of teammate Oliver Turvey in fourth place.

Meanwhile championship leader Sebastian Buemi was once again fastest of the drivers not to complete a full power lap suggesting he is still the man to beat. But his championship rival Lucas Di Grassi ran into mechanical troubles with under 10 minutes to go but managed to get going again and finish the session in sixth place under three-tenths off Buemi.

Formula E rookie Mike Conway tested the limits of the track as he attempted to get to grips with a new type of car. The Brit finishing the session a respectable 12th place with a time of 1:12.209 identical to Belgium racer Jerome D'Ambrosio.

There were rumours before the weekend that Nick Heidfeld would not be racing this weekend but it would be Frenchman Jean Eric-Verge who would be absent from proceedings, Jose Maria Lopez is expected to replace him for the race.

Heidfeld finished the session down in 17th directly behind teammate Bruno Senna which shows early indications pointing to a difficult weekend for the Mahindra squad.