Formula E in Miami: Zak O'Sullivan fastest in rookie practice ahead of Theo Pourchaire & Gabriele Mini

Zak O'Sullivan wins the 0th free practice session in Miami with a lap time of 0:55.810 minutes, followed by Theo Pourchaire in the Citroen in 2nd place. The "podium" is completed by Gabriele Mini in the Nissan car.

The eleven Formula E rookies started the 0th free practice session at the Miami International Autodrome on time at 2:30 pm local time. With the exception of the two Nissan rookies, all the drivers were already busy completing their laps in the first few minutes.

After five minutes of testing, we also saw the first lap times of the Nissans - they were the only team that decided to start rookie practice with two cars. This allowed the team to collect even more data and give the drivers the chance to prove their talent.

Marti first one with 350 kW lap

After less than nine minutes, Mini set the fastest time of 0:58.614 minutes, but was beaten shortly afterwards by Zak O'Sullivan in the Envision with a time of 0:58.099 minutes. After twelve minutes, Pepe Marti was in the lead for Cupra Kiro with 350 kW and a time of 0:56.133 minutes. Marti was able to take part in this session due to a rule change that states that you are no longer considered a rookie until you have completed your first season.

About halfway through the session, it became noticeably quiet on the track, with almost all the cars in the pit lane. The rookies were very careful with the cars, so there were no incidents up to this point. After all, the rookies were testing in the regular drivers' cars. So if something were to happen, in the worst case it would fall back on the regular drivers, for whom points in the championship are at stake. Pulling was lucky that a spin ended harmlessly and she was able to continue training with an undamaged car.

Marti showed in this free practice session what his experience of two full race weekends can do: even with 15 minutes on the clock, his best time was still unbeaten. Shortly afterwards, however, Theo Pourchaire was on a flying lap and topped Marti's time with a best of 0:55.903 minutes. A great sign from Citroen - the team is already performing superbly this season anyway.

Porsche team boss Florian Modlinger confirmed the plans to prepare DTM champion Ayhancan Güven for Formula E, we reported. The Turk did well in the Porsche 99X Electric and finished the session in eighth place with a time of 0:56.600 minutes.

O'Sullivan with best time in the final minutes

With less than two minutes on the clock, O'Sullivan once again set a new best time: 0:55.810 minutes were on the clock for the Envision driver. None of the drivers were able to beat this time. Mini narrowly missed Pourchaire's time and secured third place at the last second.

The rookies did a strong job overall. The remaining drivers finished the 0th free practice session in Miami in the following order: Marti, Nikita Bedrin, Allessandro Giusti, Dennis Hauger, Güven, Hugh Barter, Chloe Chambers and Pulling.

The regular Formula E drivers will also get behind the wheel today: the first free practice session is scheduled for 23:00 (CET). It remains to be seen whether Marti will be able to capitalise on his experience from the rookie training session.