FE Winter Testing – Day 1: A first day interrupted by a fire
Spread over two sessions, the first day of Formula E testing had to be interrupted during the break due to a fire in a garage.
Bad start for season 10 of Formula E. While the 11 teams involved in the championship found themselves in Valencia for the first day of winter testing, this was interrupted and the afternoon session was cancelled due to a fire in a garage.
The garage involved in the disaster is that of WAE (Williams Advanced Engineering), a battery supplier for the championship. The staff present in the paddock was evacuated and the area cordoned off for investigations. One person was taken to the hospital for precautionary checks.
Before this event, it was Mitch Evans, third in the championship last season, who had achieved the best time at the wheel of his Jaguar. With a time of 1’24”474, he was ahead of Antonio Felix da Costa in Porsche and Sebastien Buemi in Envision.
It should be noted that the first seven drivers on the time sheet all made times lower than the best time trial of the winter tests of season 9. An indication of the great margin of progression of these Gen3 single-seaters.
Finally, during this first half-day, the teams were able to test the fast charging, which allows the battery to be powered up during refuelling.
