Current DTM champion and sportscar driver Sheldon van der Linde took top spot in the morning's running at the Berlin Rookie Test, and with a 300kW lap, to boot - not the full-power 350kW available.
His 1m05.814s was just half a second away from the fastest time seen over the SABIC Berlin E-Prix weekend, set in similar, dry conditions.
RESULTS: The full classification for the morning's running
The South African - brother of Kelvin van der Linde who stepped in at ABT CUPRA earlier this season - also completed the most laps of the morning, with 67 under his belt with some 1,035 laps driven by the 21 drivers that hit the track.
Luca Ghiotto (Nissan) wound up second, just 0.073s back. The former FIA Formula 2 driver's best lap was set in 350kW mode, as did Mahindra Racing Test and Reserve driver Jehan Daruvala in third and former Formula 1 driver Danil Kvyat in fourth spot.
Incumbent FIA Formula 2 champion Felipe Drugovich jumped into the Maserati MSG Racing fold for the day, and found himself 12th in the morning's running, 0.765s shy of the ultimate pace.
Reigning FIA Formula 3 champion, Victor Martins, fared better in the Nissan - winding up eighth, inside half a second of van der Linde's benchmark.
There's another three-hour session to come this afternoon, with weather looking like it might close in.