Lucas di Grassi became the first driver to record a time in the 1:29s on day four of pre-season testing at Donington Park.
The Abt Schaeffler driver used the 200kw qualifying mode to post a lap of 1:29.920s to break the new lap record his team-mate Daniel Abt set yesterday. The Brazilian was well clear of his rivals, who were headed by Renault e.dams’ driver Sebastien Buemi.
Bruno Senna was third fastest after an encouraging test for Mahindra Racing: “Today has gone not too bad; we tried a few things and were happy with what we learned,” he said. “The new package seems good and most of all has been reliable, although we’re perhaps not the quickest out there at the moment. Next week we need to focus on maximising our efficiency and it will be interesting to see where everyone is in the final session.”
GP2 race winner Nathanael Berthon had his first run in the Formula E car as he took to the track for Team Aguri. The Frenchman was one of the busiest drivers on track, racking up 68 laps as the team continued to work on the set-up of its car.
It was another tough day for Andretti, although Simona de Silvestro did manage to complete a full lap without stopping. However, she was unable to set a representative time and the team remains on the backfoot with just next week’s test remaining before the cars are packed up and shipped to China.
Trulli finds itself in a similar situation, with neither of its cars appearing on track once again. All the teams have one last chance to get prepared for the Beijing ePrix on October 17. The final pre-season test takes place at Donington Park on August 24 and 25.
FIA Formula E Championship – Donington Park – Pre-season testing (Day 4) – Results:
1. Lucas di Grassi, ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport, 1:29.920s
- Sebastien Buemi, Renault e.dams, +0.462s
- Bruno Senna, Mahindra Racing, +0.750s
- Nick Heidfeld, Mahindra Racing, +0.754s
- Nicolas Prost, Renault e.dams, +0.757s
- Jean-Eric Vergne, DS Virgin Racing, +1.005s
- Jerome D’Ambrosio, DRAGON RACING, +1.224s
- Nathanael Berthon, Team Aguri, +1.265s
- Stephane Sarrazin, Venturi, +1.321s
- Jacques Villeneuve, Venturi, +1.569s
- Nelson Piquet Jr, NEXTEV TCR, +4.213s
- Oliver Turvey, NEXTEV TCR, +5.850s
- Jarno Trulli, Trulli, no time set
14. Simona de Silvestro, Andretti, no time set
