2015/16 formula e testing special

2015/2016FORMULA E PRE-SEASON TESTING

INSIDELINEMEDIA

The official pre-season tests for the 2015/16 FE season are complete, and the grid are ready to head to Beijing for the season opener. In this special, you can find reports from all days of testing, exclusive pictures and the thoughts of the teams and drivers!

#FETESTING

JACQUES VILLENEUVE TO DRIVE FOR VENTURI

1997 Formula One World Champion is the latest driver to be announced for the 2015/16 Formula E season, joining the Venturi team alongside Stephane Sarrazin.

Villeneuve has had experience in many forms of motor racing including the Champ Car Series in America, along with Nascar and of

course Formula One where he won the Championship for Williams, their last World Champion. He drove for a number of teams including BAR, Sauber and Renault.

The deal looks set for the whole season, with the French Canadian partnering Stephane

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AGATA ROGALSKA PHOTOGRAPHY

Sarrazin who will be taking part in his second season.

Talking about his latest outing in a single seater, Villeneuve said, “It had been 10 years since I had driven on that kind of track with a single-seater, but it’s like riding a bike, you never forget. It was real happiness. There was a very good ambiance with the Venturi team and one of the engineers with Venturi happens to be a guy I worked with early in my career. That was great.

“I was very excited and everything went well. Last season each time I met drivers from Formula-E they were saying it is really a very interesting championship.”

“This is the first time in several years that I will participate in a full championship. I am excited because the atmosphere while work-ing alongside the Venturi team is great and

that has a very big influence. Also I know Stéphane Sarrazin well, we trust each other ”

Takling part in his second season with Venturi, Stephane Sarrazin said, “My wish was to con-tinue with Venturi, so I’m very happy with this situation. We made tremendous progress throughout the first season. Our experience there must be put to good use in this new championship season. We have to demonstrate our capabilities ”

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SIMONA DE SILVESTRO CONFIRMED AT ANDRETTI

Although rumoured last season, Simona de Silvestro has been confirmed as an Andretti driver for the second season of the Formula E Championship.

The former Indycar driver raced for the team at the final ePrix in London, and had done some promotional work for the series including

a demo run in Switzerland. She isn’t the first woman though to take part in the series with Michela Cetturi and Katherine Legge starting the season although both losing their drives.

Talking about her second season drive, de Silvestro said, “I’m happy to be joining the

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Andretti Formula E Team for this upcoming season.

“I’m really happy to be full time in the championship again and to work with both Amlin and TE Connectivity. I’m also looking forward to being part of developing the new Andretti Technologies powertrain and hope for a successful year with a great team.”

Team owner Michael Andretti added: “I’m very pleased with the way season two is looking for Andretti Formula E. Simona did a great job at the London ePrix with very limited time to prepare, with a full season we are confident in her abilities to take the No. 28 Amlin Andretti car to the top of the podium.”

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SALVADOR DURAN SWITCHES TO TEAM TRULLIFormer Amlin Aguri driver Salvador Duran has made the switch to Team Trulli for the second season of For-mula E.

The announcement was made on the day of the penul-timate test at Donington Park, where he will drive alongside season one driver Tonio Liuzzi.

”I’m very happy to join the Trulli team and I’m super ex-cited about the new season and Trulli’s new powertrain Motomatica JT-01,” said Duran.

“I’m hoping that we can be contending for the front po-sitions and can’t wait to do my first test.”

Team Principal Lucio Cavuto conceded they had a diffi-cult couple of tests, but were happy Duran had confi-dence in them. “We are very happy to have Salvador on board. He’s a driver that we were looking at last year, and we have been very impressed with his im-provements during the championship.

“We are very glad that he trusts us despite two difficult tests. But once we introduced to our project and he

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saw how hard we’re working and that our project is very ambitious.

“We really look forward to having him in our car and in the team and the fact that he knows the category will give him a lot as we won’t be able to give him a lot of time in the car during pre-season testing.”

The Trulli team effectively missed the first four days of testing, but will be present of the final two days.

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VILLENEUVE CONCERNED HIGH DEVELOPMENT RATE WILL HURT RACING

Jacques Villeneuve expressed his concerns that the open regulations regarding gearboxes and powertrains for Formula E this year will be detrimental to the racing.

"Because there will be so much difference," he explained, "We’ll see in the first race what the real difference is. But looking at the test here

there’s a gap, there’s quite a big gap between a few of the powertrains which, ultimately, won’t be good for the racing. It’s good for the technology, but it’s not good for the racing."

Other drivers are excited to see what the devel-opment of this technology does for the sport.

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Dragon Racing driver Jerome D'Ambrosio said: "I think it’s great for the fans and hope-fully there can be some difference in between the cars so people will go with different strate-gies, and so on. But hopefully not too much dif-ference in terms of pure speed."

Mahindra's Nick Heidfeld said: "From a specta-tor’s point of view, from the technical side I think it’s cool to see many different ap-proaches, seeing one gear, two gears, three gears. I’ll tell you after the first couple of races if I still like it."

"Well that’s the point of Formula E, really," said Formula E commentator Jack Nicholls, "Last year it was great and I think it helped to change the perception of electric vehicles be-cause, before then, you kind of laughed at electric vehicles.

"But now we’ve changed the perceptions last year that, actually, you think of electric vehi-

cles and you think of close racing on street cir-cuits in Moscow or Miami. And that was great, but the main purpose of Formula E is to drive the development of electric vehicles forward. And we weren’t doing that last year, we were just getting up and running, getting going. But from now onwards, we are developing the fu-ture of electric vehicles, and that’s great and that’s what the championship’s here to do.

"And even the fact that we’ve gained over a second just by changing the electric motor and the transmission is really quite impressive, because these guys have still got the same power, it’s still the same amount of energy to use, but they’re making the cars go a second quicker.

"It’s like saying you’ve got two 300 horsepower engines, but yet one is a second quicker. That’s the impressive nature of it, because it’s

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so tight but they’re still managing to find the time."

The field does look as though it could become more spread out this year, as the cars are no longer identical. Indeed, testing seems to have shown Renault e.DAMS and ABT as the two strongest teams going into the 2015/16 season.

It is often difficult, however, to read much into testing times, as we do not fully understand the different programmes teams are running, and many days were affected by rain.

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THE 2015/16 FORMULA E GRID SO FAR..

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Lucas di GrassiDaniel Abt

Simona de Silvestro

TBC

Jerome d‘AmbrosioLoic Duval

Sam BirdJean-Eric Vergne

Nico ProstSebastien Buemi

Bruno SennaNick Heidfeld

Nelson Piquet JrTBC

TBCTBC

Salvador DuranVitantonio Liuzzi

Jacques VilleneuveStephane Sarrazin


14FANS TAKE TO THE PITLANE TO SEE THEIR FAVOURITE DRIVERS


VW PARTNER ABT FOR SEASON TWOOn the penultimate day of testing at Donington Park, the ABT Schaeffler Formula E team unveiled their new colourscheme for the forthcoming season, including that of a new partnership.

The car now features prominently displayed VW logos, as well as the drivers overalls which links a relation-ship the ABT team has had with the VW group for a number of years.

It also heralds a stronger relationship with their technol-ogy partners Schaeffler. “For us, it was clear from the beginning that we wouldn’t do anything by halves. That’s why we looked at all the areas released by the regulations and developed optimized solutions of our own together with our partners,” says Prof. Peter Gutz-mer, Chief Technology Officer.

“The collaboration with ABT Sportsline is outstanding. The team gelled in the first season, goes about its work in a professional and success-oriented manner, and is the perfect ambassador for our vision of ‘Mobil-ity for tomorrow,’ says Gutzmer.

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TEAM AGURI REMAIN CONFIDENT USING SEASON ONE POWERTRAIN

Buenos Aires ePrix winners Team Aguri re-main confident that their decision to use the powertrain from season one will help them hit the ground running in Beijing.

The team are currently the only outfit to do so as the others use their own powertrains and gearboxes which have either been

developed for season two or modified from last years’.

“Since we didn’t change the power train and we stuck with the year one [unit], we thought there would be a larger gap between us and the front runners at this point (the people that have spent millions

16Images from FIAFormulaE.com

of dollars on a powertrain) and we’ve been within seven tenths in testing.” said Keith Smout, Team Aguri Commercial Director.

“So, you know, ‘can we gain a half second’ is the question, and we can because we’re in a position where what we’re working on is the actual efficiencies of the car, not worrying about the development of the powertrain at this point, for us it’s about aero (the little bits that you can do) it’s about relocating the engine bay area to make it a little bit more efficient and just getting the most out of last years’ car.

“Because if you think about it we did six days of testing last year, eight days total, and then we ran ten races so it’s really not an opportunity to get to know your car very well and that’s really what we’re trying to do. Our decision not to go with a new powertrain is purely based on those facts. If you look up

and down the grid right now, yes some teams are going, but we’ve done the most laps, the most overall out of any team, and we’re still in that top ten of cars speed-wise. We haven’t spent a bunch of money, and turned no laps.”

With eight of the ten competing teams being chosen as manufacturers for season two onwards, Smout believes that taking the time to find a partner and develop a new powertrain with them is the right step.

“What our decision is based on is we want to be with a powertrain [maybe] BMW. Obviously with us being Japanese with have good relationships in Japan with powertrain manufacturers. That’s what we’re interested in and in order to be successful you have to sort that out now and have that entire year of development and that’s the direction we’re going in.”

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There are now no more test days left as the teams have to ship their cars for the first race. Smout is expecting some surprises and upsets in Beijing which will only benefit Team Aguri.

“We have to ship the cars on the 28th August [and] they have to go into a container. From the green perspective of life we are shipping our cars by train, via Russia, into China. If you have not got your powertrain sorted and you have not done your test miles like our friends at Amlin Andretti; I don’t know what they do. They go to China with a car that hasn’t run and they can’t do any more test days because they can’t have the car. So I’m concerned about some teams, and then I think that the other factor is that the teams that have done fairly well still really haven’t turned proper race distances.

“So we think in the beginning of the season we’re going to end up in a position where, based on reliability not outright speed necessarily but close to the top, we think we’re going to be in good points scoring positions.”

All the teams are still using the current Williams battery that was used throughout season one. The cars currently have a maximum power output of 200kw and teams and drivers have been trialling an increase in race power from 150kw to 170kw. Smout believes that the battery is the limiting factor in development of new powertrains.

“The thing that limits everybody is battery output and we’re all under the same battery [usage] so you can have as efficient unit as you like up and down the grid. I think we have made the right decision and we have the right powertrain and the right unit.

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BUEMI FASTEST ON FIRST DAY OF TESTING AT DONINGTON

Renault eDams driver Sebastien Buemi was fastest on the opening day of testing at Donington Park, the Formula E home test track.

It was the first day of season two testing, with teams running the new technology for the first

time. Two teams didn’t actually run during the day including Amlin Andretti and Trulli.

Old names surfaced at the top of the times, with the fastest 1:32.0 set by Sebastien Buemi ahead of Lucas di Grassi in the ABT, who was just a tenth back. e.Dams team mate Nicolas Prost was third, ahead of Sam Bird and

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DAY 1AGATA ROGALSKA PHOTOGRAPHY

Salvador Duran. The only new name to the series in the top ten was Tom Dillmann who was in ninth. Jacques Villeneuve finished last of the cars who took part in fourteenth.

Nick Heidfeld made his debut for Mahindra, Jean-Eric Vergne made his debut at DS Virgin Racing, while Daniel Abt arrived late coming straight from holiday in Majorca.

Full Day 1 Results

1. Sebastien Buemi, Renault e.dams, 1:32.095s

2. Lucas di Grassi, ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport, 1:32.158s

3. Nicolas Prost, Renault e.dams, 1:32.286s

4. Sam Bird, DS Virgin Racing, 1:32.523s

5. Salvador Duran, Team Aguri, 1:32.549s

6. Bruno Senna, Mahindra Racing, 1:35.653s

7. Nick Heidfeld, Mahindra Racing, 1:35.700s

8. Jerome D’Ambrosio, Dragon Racing, 1:36.324s

9. Tom Dillmann, Team Aguri, 1:36.329s

10. Stephane Sarrazin, Venturi, 1:36.361s

11. Jean-Eric Vergne, DS Virgin Racing, 1:36.704s

12. Loic Duval, Dragon Racing, 1:37.987s

13. Nelson Piquet Jr, NEXTEV TCR, 1:38.052s

14. Jacques Villeneuve, Venturi, 1:38.176s

15. Jarno Trulli, Trulli, no time set

16. Simona de Silvestro, Andretti, no time set

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BUEMI AGAIN FASTEST, BREAKING TRACK RECORD AT DONINGTON

Renault e.Dams once again showed their speed during testing at Donington with Sebastien Buemi leading the way for a second day.

The first season team champions were nearly half a second clear from their competition, the DS Virgin Racing team and London ePrix

winner Sam Bird. Daniel Abt finished third after not taking part on Monday, flying directly to East Midlands Airport from his holiday in Majorca. Nick Heidfeld finished in forth in the Mahindra, where the gaps were very slim between the respective drivers.

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DAY 2


The top ten drivers were all using the maximum 200kwh power setting, used for qualifying over the 170kwh maximum allowed to be used during a race.

At the bottom of the order Andretti could only manage a handful of laps, with the team describing the problems as software glitches. Team China had gearbox problems which prevented both Nelson Piquet Jr and Oliver Turvey from setting lap times, while Team Trulli also sat out the second day. Jacques Villeneuve was again at the bottom of the order, five seconds away from the leading pace.


2. Sam Bird, DS Virgin Racing, +0.419s

3. Daniel Abt, ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport, +0.487s

4. Nick Heidfeld, Mahindra Racing, +0.491s

5. Nicolas Prost, Renault e.dams, +0.542s

6. Bruno Senna, Mahindra Racing, +0.819s

7. Loic Duval, DRAGON RACING, +0.865s

8. Stephane Sarrazin, Venturi, +0.951s

9. Jean-Eric Vergne, DS Virgin Racing, +0.983s

10. Tom Dillmann, Team Aguri, +1.319s

11. Jerome D’Ambrosio, DRAGON RACING, +3.905s

12. Jacques Villeneuve, Venturi, +5.865s

13. Nelson Piquet Jr, NEXTEV TCR, no time set

14. Jarno Trulli, Trulli, no time set

15. Simona de Silvestro, Andretti, no time set

16. Oliver Turvey, NEXTEV TCR, no time set

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TURVEY: I THINK IT’S EXCITING TIMESThe impressive amount of technical diversity in this years’ Formula E field has been hailed as “exciting” by NEXTEV TCR ace Oliver Turvey.

For season two, teams are allowed to develop their own powertrains and gearboxes with NEXTEV TCR one of the eight teams listed as a manufacturer.

“I think it’s great to have development in any formula,” said Turvey, “certainly to work on the development of the powertrain is something that’s quite new for me.

“I have a lot of experience in the development side, working with the McLaren Formula One team for the last six seasons, I have a lot of experience from that, and is certainly something that interests me, I have a strong engineering background after studying engineering at Cambridge University.

“I think it’s exciting times, and interesting to work on the different parameters and to try and improve everything on the car.”

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It is yet to be confirmed whether the Brit will be racing for the China-based team for certain in season two, but a deal has been hailed as “practically done” by Adrian Campos, whose technical team runs the NEXTEV TCR squad.

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DS Virgin Racing have unveiled their new colour scheme for the second season of Formula E.

In an online launch, the team unveiled their new colours with revisions made thanks to new tie ups with DS and Hewlett Packard, but still retains the ‘traditional’ Virgin colours of Red, Purple and Silver.

The team also announced that as tradition with Virgin products the cars will feature the famous flying lady, along with the naming of the cars after Holly and Bellie Branson.

Sam Bird said, “Last season we had the best car on the grid visually and so to have another great livery design for season two is brilliant. Formula E cars look fantastic as a basic starting point but I feel that we have again taken it to another level with this season’s livery. I cannot not wait to get on track in Beijing for the first race of the season and show off the new design to all of those people onsite and watching on TV.”

Jean-Eric Vergne said, “DS have a long history of making attractive, premium cars and this DS Virgin Racing livery is no different. I’m hugely excited by the prospect of starting the season with the DS Virgin Racing team in this fantastic looking car.”

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DS VIRGIN RACING LAUNCH NEW COLOUR SCHEME

VILLENEUVE: FORMULA E IS PROFESSIONAL RACINGFormula One World Champion Jacques Villeneuve believes that Formula E is not only exciting but demonstrates professional racing too.

The Canadian has joined the Monaco-based Venturi squad for this season and is impressed with what he saw from season one.

“I was watching the races, and it was exciting,” said Villeneuve. “The racing was fun and exciting and I was thinking ‘Damn, I should be out there’. It was making me hungry to go there and to go for it. It’s that simple.

“It’s professional racing at an international level. All the races are downtown in big cities; I like the courses that are in between walls, so all that was quite attractive. I watched races last year, and it looked exciting, and the level of driving is good. So why shouldn’t I be here?”

Villeneuve previously raced in the normally aspirated V10 era of F1 where engines had upwards of

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The racing was fun and exciting and I was thinking ‘Damn, I should be out there’.”

- Jacques Villeneuve

1000bhp; nowhere near the current all-electric powertrains of Formula E. The ex-F1 and NASCAR racer feels that the joy of racing is still there regardless of the electric power.

“The problem is you look either at normally aspirated or electrical, said Villeneuve. “You have to take that away. There’s a race car, there’s an engine. You step on the throttle and it goes forward. That’s the simple matter.

“It doesn’t matter what the engine is, it’s what happens when you step on the throttle. That’s the key factor.

“When I drive an open wheel car, now that actually is fun to drive, ok it’s got less power but it’s still fun, it’s still difficult to go fast, because you’re a group of drivers, everyone trying to go fast. It’s still difficult to go fast, so that’s exciting.

“There’s a level of competition where you have to push, and that’s what makes the difference.”

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ABT SMASHES LAP RECORD ON DAY 3 OF TESTING

Daniel Abt was the quickest driver on the third day of the Formula E test, setting off the test in style leading the field by a large margin.

The German driver clocked a 1:30.2, seven tenths faster than Nico Prost driving from eDams and Sam Bird in the Virgin Racing car, setting the fastest lap late in the day on the full

power 200kwh qualifying setting. He would also break the lap record in the process which was only set last week by Sebastian Buemi.

Jacques Villeneuve got to within a second of the leading pace in the Venturi car, while team mate Stephane Sarrazin was only a place behind in 6th. Mahindra once again looked

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DAY 3


reliable and new driver pairing Bruno Senna and Nick Heidfeld were also closely matched in 7th and 8th.

Team Amlin showed off a new colourscheme at Donington Park today, with Nico Lapierre setting the 9th fastest time. While current champions eDams hit trouble stopping on the circuit and limiting Sebastian Buemi to only 10th place. NEXTEV TCR had a better time than last week, at least completing a significant amount more running enroute to 11th and 12th.

It was another poor day for both Andretti and Trulli. Andretti only made it to the end of the pit lane before calling it a day and bringing down the shutters, while once again the Trulli team didn’t appear on track at all with no personnel at the circuit.

1. Daniel Abt/Abt Audi Sport 1m30.250s

2. Nicolas Prost/Renault e.dams 1m31.021s

3. Sam Bird/DS Virgin Racing 1m31.023s

4. Loic Duval/Dragon Racing 1m31.144s

5. Jacques Villeneuve/Venturi 1m31.193s

6. Stephane Sarrazin/Venturi 1m31.680s

7. Bruno Senna/Mahindra Racing 1m31.696s

8. Nick Heidfeld/Mahindra Racing 1m31.805s

9. Nicolas Lapierre/Team Aguri 1m32.694s

10. Sebastien Buemi/Reanult e.dams 1m35.318s

11. Oliver Turvey/NEXTEV-TCR 1m36.773s

12. Nelson Piquet Jr/NEXTEV-TCR 1m37.460s

13. Jarno Trulli/Trulli no time set

14. Simona De Silvestro/Andretti Autosport no time set

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DI GRASSI KEEPS ABT ON TOP AT DONINGTON

The Abt team kept their dominance of the second Formula E test of the year at Donington, staying nearly half a second clear of the rest of the field.

First season championship hopeful Lucas di Grassi took the Formula E car to new heights, clocking under the 1:30 mark for the first time,

and breaking the lap record in the process only set yesterday by his team mate. Although it was a great time set on the maximum qualifying power, 200 kwh, he was cautious to say that Donington isn’t representative to other tracks they visit through the season.

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DAY 4


eDams were once again near the top of the standing, Sebastian Buemi who looked strong on long runs ahead of his team mate Nicolas Prost, one of the few remaining pairings from season one. Buemi was half a second down nearly on di Grassi, while Prost was three quarters of a second down in fifth. He had stopped on the track in the morning, but still managed a decent 36 laps.

Mahindra team mates Bruno Senna and Nick Heidfeld were once again in close order, and slightly further up the order from yesterday. Senna ran in the afternoon, while Nick Heidfeld was second in the morning session before the lunch break. Despite the split running they were separated by just thousandths of a second.

Jean-Eric Vergne lost a second on his final run and ended up sixth ahead of Jerome D’Ambrosio in the Dragon, Nathanael Berthon

for Aguri in eighth and the two Venturi drivers, Stephane Sarrazin and Jacques Villeneuve rounding out the top ten.

Neither NEXTEV-TCR drivers set qualifying laps, Nelson Piquet Jr was four seconds off the pace, with probable team mate for the second season Oliver Turvey over a second and a half behind.

Once again it was a troubled day for Andretti. They did however manage a handful of laps around Donington Park, but none of them were timed for Simona de Silvestro. Team Trulli once again didn’t take part in the test, instead working on their new powertrain at their base at the circuit.

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35TESTING TIMES FOR SOME AT DONINGTON


HEIDFELD TARGETING WINS WITH MAHINDRA IN 2015/16The Mahindra Racing Formula E team has confirmed that former F1 driver Nick Heidfeld has joined the squad for the sport’s second season.

The German will drive the team’s new M2Electro car, which will be run in partnership with Campos Racing – with Mahindra providing the technical lead and Campos offering its expertise in race engineering.

Speaking at his announcement ahead of pre-season testing in Donington, Heidfeld commented: “I am very excited to join Mahindra Racing for the second For-mula E season, Mahindra’s high ambitions are aligned with lessons learned from season one and action taken for two. When I tested the M2Electro in Spain, I found a determined team that shares my racing passion. My target is to win and I believe our combined experience and skills will ensure we maxi-mise our chances.”

Heidfeld is certainly a scoop for the team, bringing the experience of 183 F1 starts alongside a full season’s

37 AGATA ROGALSKA PHOTOGRAPHY

racing in the inaugural year of Formula E, in which he scored a best placed finish of 12th.

Dilbagh Gill, Team Principal of Mahindra Racing Formula E team, commented: “I am very proud to welcome Nick to the Mahindra Racing family. He brings a wealth of experience to the team and we were impressed by his performances in the inaugural Formula E season.”

“Nick has also been an integral part of testing the M2E-lectro with our team. Mahindra Racing is targeting top results this season and with over 2,000km of pre-season

testing completed, we are confident we are giving Nick the car to do it. We have been particularly impressed with how quickly he has got up to speed with the technical aspects of the car, as well as the gains we have made in its refinement since he joined us.”

With the German to be partnered by Bruno Senna at pre-season testing, the Indo-Spanish squad certainly have a very solid base upon which to build for their second season. This is certainly a team to watch.

38AGATA ROGALSKA PHOTOGRAPHY

SAM BIRD FASTEST ON PENULTIMATE DAY OF TESTING

Sam Bird was fastest for DS Virgin Racing on the penultimate day of testing at Donington Park.

In typical British weather, it wasn’t the best con-ditions to go testing, wet, windy and cloudy was the order the day. It wasn’t until later in the afternoon though that the rain intensified and

made it more difficult for the drivers. Lap times were increased by nearly 20 seconds in the worst of the conditions.

At the top of the order Sam Bird led the way for the first time in testing, from Lucas di Grassi in the ABT by three tenths of a second. The ABT team looked like being the team to

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DAY 5


beat from last week, having been fastest both last Monday and Tuesday. Dragon Racing were 3rd with Loic Duval setting a time six tenths away from the leading pace.

Continuing his education of the car, Jacques Villeneuve ended the day forth, just a tenth behind Duval. Dragon team mate Jerome D’Ambrosio ended the day 5th from Stephane Sarrazin, Villeneuve’s team mate at Venturi.

Hotly tipped teams Renault eDams finished the day in seventh and eleventh, with Mahindra in ninth and twelfth.

Once again no sign of Andretti setting any laps with Robin Frinjs on duty today, and no running from Trulli who have yet to take part in testing.

The e first ePrix of the season is on the 17th October in Beijing.

1. Sam Bird, DS Virgin Racing, 1:30.451s

2. Lucas di Grassi, ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport, 1:30.772s

3. Loic Duval, Dragon Racing, 1:32.022s

4. Jacques Villeneuve, Venturi Formula E, 1:32.154s

5. Jerome D’Ambrosio, Dragon Racing, 1:33.419s

6. Stephane Sarrazin, Venturi Formula E, 1:33.569s


8. Oliver Turvey, NEXTEV TCR. 1:34.203s

9. Nick Heidfeld, Mahindra Racing, 1:34.501s

10. Nathanael Berthon, Team Aguri, 1:34.739s

11. Nicolas Prost, Renault e.dams, 1:34.895s

12. Bruno Senna, Mahindra Racing, 1:35.611s

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The Trulli Formula E team have said that they 'will be ready to race' at the season opening race in Beijing after a slow start to the season in testing.

The Motomatica JT-01 first ran just a few times at Donington Park earlier this month, finally getting some vital installation laps on the final day.

Team Principal, Lucio Cavuto is, however, happy with the teams' progress.

"We are happy to have achieved what we set out for this testing - to complete a shakedown. This was the expectation, and it was mission accomplished."

The team announced ex-Team Aguri man Salvador Duran as part of their driver pairing for the second season of the all-electric series.

"As a team, we are delighted to have announced Salvador a part of Trulli Formula E for season two and we now have 45 days of very hard work, said Cavuto, "however, rest assured, we will be ready to race in Beijing."

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TRULLI: WE WILL BE READY TO RACE

E.DAMS END TESTING ON TOP

eDams headed the final day of testing at Donington Park fastest with Nico Prost ahead of team mate Sebastian Buemi.

The two eDams cars, which have been quick around the Derbyshire circuit lapped within three tenths of each other, once again the mid 1:30’s. Dragon’s Jerome D’Ambrosio was only

just behind the Dragon Racing car, with him and Senna, Sarrazin and Vergne all setting times within two tenths of each other showing how competitive the front of the field is with five different teams represented.

The last day of testing also saw teams trial the new proposed race allowance of 170kwh, up

43Images from FIAFormulaE.com

DAY 6


from the 150kwh previously. 200kwh is allowed to be used in qualifying, and it excludes the fan boost, which is allocated to three drivers before the start of every race.

Today also saw a couple of changes down the field. Andretti reverted to season 1 technology for the final day, which meant they were able to get some running in for the first time this summer. Robin Frinjs made his debut with the team, alongside Simona de Silvestro.

Team Trulli also made their first laps this season with season one driver Tonio Luizzi taking to the wheel, but didn’t put in a representative lap time. Stefano Coletti also made his debut at Team Aguri, the team have been testing a number of drivers this summer, and he set the 10th fastest time.

Once again the weather conditions were not ideal, with rain setting in during the afternoon

session which brought out the red flag due to the intensity of the rainfall.

Testing has now concluded and the cars will be packed off to Beijing, ready for the first round on October 17th.

1. Nicolas Prost, Renault e.dams, 1:30.513s2. 2. Sebastien Buemi, Renault e.dams, 1:30.801s3. Jerome D’Ambrosio, DRAGON RACING, 1:30.860s4. Bruno Senna, Mahindra Racing, 1:30.869s5. Stephane Sarrazin, Venturi, 1:30.923s6. Jean-Eric Vergne, DS Virgin Racing, 1:30.997s7. Loic Duval, DRAGON RACING, 1:31.259s8. Robin Frijns, Andretti, 1:31.434s9. Jacques Villeneuve, Venturi, 1:31.895s10. Stefano Coletti, Team Aguri, 1:32.573s11. Simona de Silvestro, Andretti, 1:33.180s12. Nelson Piquet Jr, NEXTEV TCR, 1:33.679s13. Daniel Abt, ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport, 1:34.384s14. Nick Heidfeld, Mahindra Racing, 1:36.176s15. Vitantonio Liuzzi, Trulli, no time set

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2015/16 formula e testing special

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