Welcome to day one of ABB FIA Formula E Championship pre-season testing. Day one of a new season with new cars, new rules, new cities and a whole lot more action coming up. Feels good to be back, right?
While it’s only been a few months since we crowned Jean-Eric Vergne as our Season 4 champion, we’re ready to do it all again as we embark on a Season 5.
Measuring in at 4.005 km, testing returns to the Circuit Ricardo Tormo for the second consecutive year. Nestled in the foothills, 24 km outside of the Spanish city, it’s the first time all 22 cars have hit the track ahead of the first race in Saudi Arabia on December 15, 2018. Here’s all the action from day one of pre-season testing at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia, Spain.
Despite his first Formula E outing, it was BMW i Andretti Motorsport’s Rookie driver Alexander Sims who set the pace in pre-season testing with a 1:17.553 lap time – setting the fastest time in both sessions. Despite his lack of Formula E experience, Sims was a full second quicker than last years fastest lap time, set by NIO Formula E Team’s Oliver Turvey.
Coming in second fastest of the day was DS Techeetah’s Andre Lotterer with a time of 1:17.654 behind the wheel of the DS E-Tense FE19, followed by BMW’s Antonio Felix da Costa with a best lap time of 1:17.727, set in the afternoon session.
After a trouble-free morning, HWA RACELAB’s Rookie driver Gary Paffett had a brief excursion with the barrier at the chicane on the start/finish line. With the session temporarily halted while Paffett’s car was recovered, the British driver returned to the pits with only scuffs and scratches to the bodywork.
Rookie Max Gunther, driving for Geox Dragon, had technical issues in the morning, which brought his session to an early end while Venturi’s Felipe Massa rounded off the top ten of the day, with a 1:18.17.
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