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Formula E- Antonio Felix da Costa Leads Day 2 of Testing

Antonio Felix da Costa led day two of the ABB FIA Formula E Pre-Season test. That means that the BMW i Andretti Motorsport team had the fastest time in both test days. The Portuguese driver was the first and only driver to break the 1:17 mark with a 1:16.977s. His teammate, Alexander Sims couldn’t match his teammate today. The rookie British driver’s best lap time placed him eighth overall, with a 1:17.698s.

Antonio Felix da Costa Leads Day 2 of Testing

DS Techeetah

Defending Formula E Champion, Jean-Eric Vergne, came in with the second fastest time with a 1:17.342s. Andre Lotterer, Vergne’s teammate, was close behind with a 1:17.437s. That lap time placed him fourth overall. Its great to see that the switch from customer team to a works team hasn’t hindered their performance.

Mahindra Racing

Mahindra Racing’s Jerome d’Ambrosio posted a lap time of 1:17.431s. That time placed him third overall and the team seemed to have made improvements after day one of testing. Pascal Wehrlein also improved his pace on day two. The German’s fastest lap was a 1:17.781s, which placed him tenth overall. Can the two new Mahindra Racing drivers keep improving?

Nissan e.dams.

Sebastien Buemi of Nissan e.dams. logged time in both cars on track today. The Swiss driver posted a lap time of 1:17.473s which placed him fifth overall. His teammate, Alexander Albon, didn’t participate in testing for the second day in a row. Albon may jump to Toro Rosso in Formula One next season. It is suspected that Oliver Rowland may replace Albon if he switches.

Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler

Lucas di Grassi placed sixth today with a 1:17.535s. His teammate, Daniel Abt, couldn’t match his pace today on day two. The German posted a lap time of 1:17.866s which placed him 12th overall. Abt could have improved his pace, but his time was cut short. The German driver had an incident at the makeshift chicane and caused a red flag.

Venturi Formula E

Felipe Massa looked solid today with his best lap time of 1:17.696s. The other Venturi Formula E driver, Edoardo Mortara, also improved with a 1:17.729s. Both times placed the drivers seventh and ninth respectively. Mortara had to sit out the first two hours of the morning session due to a driveshaft issue.

GEOX Dragon

Jose Maria Lopez, of GEOX Dragon, came in eleventh today with a 1:17.830s. Max Gunther and Antonio Fuoco, GEOX Dragon test drivers, shared time in the second car today. Fuoco placed 20th with a lap time of 1:18.778s. Gunther only logged in ten laps in a simulation run and placed last on the timesheets with a 1:19.540s.

Panasonic Jaguar Racing

Panasonic Jaguar Racing had a better performance in day two of testing today. Mitch Evans came in thirteenth overall with a 1:17.975s. His teammate, Nelson Piquet Jr, came in 19th with a1:18.498s. Although his lap time wasn’t the fastest, his car seemed to be reliable. The Brazilian driver posted the most laps completed with 69. Surely, they will look to improve the pace on the last day of testing.

HWA Racelab

Formula E rookie, Stoffel Vandoorne completed 34 laps today in day two of testing. The Belgian completed only a handful of laps on day one due to a battery issue. His best lap time was a 1:18.032s, which placed him 14th. The early reliability issues aren’t over for HWA Racelab unfortunately. During a simulated race at the end of session two today, Vandoorne’s car came to a halt after Daniel Abt hit the chicane. Hopefully, it isn’t serious and HWA Racelab can diagnose the problem.

Unfortunately, today was Vandoorne’s last day of pre-season testing in Valencia. The Mclaren F1 driver has to travel to Austin ahead of the United States Grand Prix. Daniel Juncadella will drive the car on Friday for HWA Racelab.

DTM Champion and Formula E rookie, Gary Paffett, came in 21st with a best lap of 1:19.382s. Surely, he will look to improve his pace on the final day of testing.

Envision Virgin Racing

Sam Bird came in 15th today for Envision Virgin Racing with a 1:18.115s. The British driver barely edged his teammate, Robin Frijns, who came in 18th with a 1:18.288s. Although they have the same car as Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler, they cannot match their pace. Hopefully, they can improve on the final test day on Friday.

NIO Formula E

NIO Formula E drivers Tom Dillmann and Oliver Turvey looked equal today. Dillmann posted a best lap of 1:18.217a and Turvey posted a 1:18.240a. Both times placed them 16th and 17th respectively.

Simulated Race

Although testing usually entails all teams putting in as many laps as possible. Formula E decided to make a test run of the new format ahead of season five. Even though they didn’t do a standing start, they added 45 minutes to the session to simulate a race. They also trialed the new “Attack Mode” area where teams can get an added boost of 25Kw. In season, they can only use it twice but for this instance, all teams had unlimited use of the “Attack Mode” area.

Lucas di Grassi was the “unofficial” winner of the simulated race. Formula E rookie Alexander Sims and Daniel Abt rounded out the podium. Antonio Felix da Costa, Robin Frijns, Max Gunther, Jerome d’Ambrosio, Jean-Eric Vergne, Jose Maria Lopez, and Pascal Wehrlein completed the top ten. Edoardo Mortara, Felipe Massa, Andre Lotterer, Nelson Piquet Jr, Tom Dillmann, Sebastien Buemi, and Stoffel Vandoorne couldn’t complete the full simulation period.

Follow Live

If you would like to follow the sessions live, Formula E will be keeping a live-time during all sessions. This can be found here http://www.fiaformulae.com/en/live-timing

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