The Kiwi headed the times for nearly half of the 30-minute session on Saturday morning as he gradually lowered his best time down to a 1m13.606s with his final effort.
He finished just 0.064s clear of Maximilian Guenther as the Maserati MSG driver jumped up to second in the final moments, demoting Envision’s Robin Frijns down to third.
Evans’s Jaguar team-mate Nick Cassidy finished fourth, with Sebastien Buemi in the second Envision making it four Jaguar-powered machines inside the top six as DS Penske’s Stoffel Vandoorne split the pair.
Reigning champion Jake Dennis was the first driver to dip below the 1m15s mark, posting a 1m14.914s before heading into the run-off area at Turn 1 as his time was quickly surpassed by Buemi, Nissan’s Oliver Rowland and Guenther.
The Andretti driver was not the only one to overstep the mark into the first turn, with fellow Briton Sam Bird doing similar just minutes later as both rejoined unharmed.
With the track temperature constantly rising and the racing line becoming grippier, times continued to tumble in the opening 15 minutes of the session as Dennis led at the halfway point with a 1m14.221s.
Source: Autosport