FE Winter Testing – Day 2: The single-seaters have returned to the track in Valencia
Sport has resumed its rights on the Valence track after four half-days of testing were cancelled due to the fire that occurred in a garage during the first day.
The teams were finally able to have some mileage on the Valencia track for the continuation of the preparatory tests for season 10 of Formula E. Following the fire that took place in the WAE (Williams Advanced Engineering) garage, the battery supplier for the championship, the FIA decided to cancel the Tuesday afternoon session, the two scheduled on Wednesday, as well as the one scheduled this Thursday morning, in order to ensure that all safety conditions were met to restart the single-seaters.
It is in this context that Mitch Evans once again achieved the fastest time of the day’s single session. Definitely in great form at the wheel of his Jaguar, the third from the last championship made a time of 1’24”791, three tenths better than his best time from two days ago. The New Zealander nevertheless saw his session interrupted prematurely a few minutes before the end, his single-seater stopping at the side of the track.
As Tuesday, Evans outpaced the Porsche of Antonio Felix da Costa. The Portuguese failing by less than a tenth to his rival. In third place, we find Edoardo Mortara at the wheel of the only Mahindra on track today. Neighboring the WAE garage, the Indian team was forced to relocate its equipment and was unable to prepare the single-seater of the returning Nyck de Vries in time. Robin Frijns, back with Envision, and Pascal Wehrlein on the other Porsche complete the Top 5.
On the French side, Norman Nato, making his debut with Andretti, ranks 8th and Jean-Eric Vergne 11th in his DS Penske, whose gold and black livery is causing a sensation in the paddock. We need to look at the second part of the list to find Sasha Fenestraz, 19th, who is starting his second season with Nissan.
Note that the gaps are small between the drivers since the first 17 are gathered in less than half a second.
The trials will continue and conclude tomorrow for a day of uninterrupted trials from 8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., in order to make up for the lost time of the last two days. The teams will then have just over two months to finalize their preparation before the first ePrix scheduled for January 13, 2024 in Mexico.
