2020 Marrakesh Rookie Test: All you need to know
Welcome to the 2019/20 ABB FIA Formula E Championship in-season test on March 1. Learn all about the next generation of Formula E stars at the 2020 Rookie Test.
the rookie line-up
Envision virgin racing
Alice Powell
Powell, who returned to single seater racing after completing in the single-sex W Series, will get her first taste of the all-electric street racing championship as one of two rookies to test for Envision Virgin Racing in Marrakesh on March 1. The in-season test will take place the day after the 2020 Marrakesh E-Prix at the circuit Moulay El Hassan.
envision virgin racing
Nick Cassidy
New Zealand born racer Nick Cassidy completes the Envision Virgin Racing rookie driver line up alongside Alice Powell. Following in the footsteps of fellow Kiwi Formula E drivers Mitch Evans and Brendan Hartley, Cassidy will make his debut in Formula E during the March 1 test. Working with the team ahead of the event, Cassidy has spent time in the simulator, working alongside Senior Race Engineer Stephen Lane, who engineered him to an impressive podium as a rookie in the 2014 Macau GP.
Panasonic jaguar racing
Jamie Chadwick
21 year-old W Series Champion Jamie Chadwick returns to Formula E with Panasonic Jaguar Racing after previously testing for the NIO Formula E squad. Beginning her career racing go-karts at the age of 11, Chadwick became the first woman and youngest driver to win the British GT Championship at the age of 17. In 2018, she became the first woman to win a British F3 race and last February, she became the first female winner of the MRF Challenge series in Chennai. In 2019, Chadwick joined the W Series before clinching the Championship title after securing five trophies in just six races.
panasonic jaguar racing
Sacha fenestraz
Panasonic Jaguar Racing welcomes test driver Sacha Fenestraz, who gets behind the wheel of the Jaguar I-TYPE 4 on March 1 following the Marrakesh E-Prix. Born in France, the twenty-year-old grew up in Argentina where he dominated the national karting scene before moving into French Formula F4, Formula Renault and FIA Formula 3. In 2019, he secured his Japanese Formula 3 title at his first attempt and achieved his third single-seater title in five years. This year, the Frenchman continues to race in both Super Formula and Super GT500 championships.
Geox dragon
sergio sette camara
Brazilian Formula 2 driver Sergio Sette Camara makes his Formula E debut with Geox Dragon after the 2020 Marrakesh E-Prix. Born in 1998, the rookie will partner Joel Eriksson on March 1 as they head out behind the wheel of the Penske EV-4. Alongside his Formula 2 commitments, Sette Camara holds the position of Test Driver for McLaren.
Geox Dragon
Joel Eriksson
21-year-old Joel Eriksson will drive for all-American Formula E team Geox Dragon in the Formula E rookie test in Marrakech, while joining the team as a full-time test and reserve driver. Eriksson returns to the all-electric championship fresh from scoring two podiums and finishing 11th in the 2019 DTM standings for BMW during his second season in the series. The Swedish driver made his debut in Formula E with Virgin Racing at the Marrakesh in-season test in 2018. His combined times from the morning and afternoon sessions ranked him ninth fastest overall, one-tenth shy of fellow DS runner-turned-Alfa Romeo Formula 1 driver Antonio Giovinazzi.
TAG Heuer Porsche
Thomas preining
TAG Heuer Porsche's Test and Development driver Thomas Preining will get behind the wheel of the 99X Electric in Marrakesh after he stepped up to the role in September 2019. As a permanent fixture in the Porsche squad since 2017, Preining drove for the Porsche customer team Gulf Racing last season in the FIA WEC (GTE-AM class) and also competed in the ADAC GT Masters with Herbert Motorsport. In 2020 Preining is competing in the Intercontinental GT Challenge and the Blancpain Endurance Series. In the FIA WEC, he supports the Dempsey Proton Racing customer team.
TAG heuer porsche
Frederic Makowiecki
Stepping up as one of TAG Heuer Porsche's two rookie drivers is Frederic Makowiecki. As a Porsche works driver since 2014, Makowieck has achieved success in GT racing with a notable victory in the Nurburgring 24 Hours in 2018 and two wins in the current IMSA Championship at Sebring. Two years ago, Makowiecki made his debut drive in the ABB FIA Formula E Championship's in-season test for DS Techeetah alongside James Rossiter.
Mahindra Racing
Pipo Derani
Brazilian sportster driver Pipo Derani is joining Mahindra Racing in the Marrakesh Rookie Test. Derani has endurance racing success having won both the Daytona 24 Hours and Sebring 12 Hours and will get to sample Mahindra's M6ELECTRO.
Mahindra Racing
Sam Dejonghe
Sam Dejonghe has been Mahindra's simulator and development driver since 2017. The Belgian driver has previously taken part in past Formula E Rookie Tests and will continue his work on perfecting the Mahindra's all-electric racer around the Moulay El Hassan street circuit.
bmw i andretti motorsport
Lucas Auer
BMW DTM driver Lucas Auer will make his debut in Formula E behind the wheel of the BMW iFE.20. As the nephew of Formula One driver Gerhard Berger, Auer progressed through Formula 3 before moving into DTM and GT racing. In 2019, he was announced as a member of the Red Bull Junior Team. The Austrian driver is joined by Andretti's Kyle Kirkwood at the test on March 1.
bmw i andretti motorsport
Kyle Kirkwood
21-year-old Kirkwood is a new addition to the Andretti squad for the 2020 season and will contest the North American Indy Lights series for team owner Michael Andretti. Making his debut in Formula E in Marrakesh alongside Lucas Auer, the pair will pilot the BMW iFE.20 on March 1.
NIO 333
Antonio Fuoco
Italian racing prospect Antonio Fuoco returns to the Formula E Rookie Test in 2020, this time for the NIO 333 team after previously testing for Geox Dragon in 2019. Fuoco has risen up the single-seater ranks and his racing CV boasts wins in Formula 2 and championship victories in the Formula Renault 2.0 Alps and Florida Winter Series. The Italian was previously part of the Ferrari Driver Academy and was promoted to a role within Ferrari's Formula 1 simulator team last year.
NIO 333
Daniel Cao
NIO 333 are also bringing their new development driver, Daniel Cao to the Marrakesh Rookie Test. The young Chinese racing talent will get his first experience of all-electric single-seater racers around the Moulay El Hassan street circuit. Cao steps up to the role after championship success across the Asian single-seater series, with wins in the 2017 Formula 4 South East Asia Championship and the 2018 Asian Formula Renault Cup.
DS TECHEETAH
Nicolas Lapierre
After James Rossiter deputised for Jean-Eric Vergne in Practice 1 in Marrakesh, Nicolas Lapierre now joins DS Techeetah for the 2020 Rookie Test. The Frenchman comes with a wealth of experience in endurance racing and currently holds a streak of LMP2 class wins at Le Mans from 2015 to 2019.
DS Techeetah
Filipe Albuquerque
Portuguese WEC, IMSA and ELMS driver Filipe Albuquerque will make his debut in Formula E, getting behind the wheel of fellow Portuguese driver Antonio Felix Da Costa’s car on March 1 for DS Techeetah. Albuquerque's previous drives include WEC, IMSA, ELMS, A1GP, GP2 and Formula Renault.
Nissan e.dams
Jann Mardenborough
Former GT Academy winner, Le Mans and Super GT driver Jann Mardenborough will return to Formula E to take part in the rookie test following the 2020 Marrakesh E-Prix on March 1. The Nissan rookie will drive alongside Mitsunori Takaboshi.
nissan e.dams
Mitsunori Takaboshi
26 year-old Mitsunori Takaboshi will represent the Nissan e.dams squad during the rookie test on March 1. The team's test and reserve driver will take to the streets of Marrakesh alongside former GT Academy and Super GT driver Jann Mardenborough.
mercedes-benz eq
jake hughes
Jake Hughes competed in the GP3 Series (2016 and 2018) the FIA Formula 3 European Championship (2017) and the FIA Formula 3 Championship (2019), winning races in each active season. This year, the 25-year-old Briton is driving for HWA Racelab in the FIA Formula 3 Championship, just as he did in 2019 when he secured a maiden win for the team at Spielberg.
Mercedes-benz eq
Daniel Juncadella
Between 2013 and 2018, the 28-year-old Catalan competed in 76 DTM races for the Mercedes-AMG DTM Team. During this time, he claimed three pole positions and secured a maiden victory in the 2018 race at Brands Hatch. Before making his DTM debut, he won the Formula 3 Grand Prix in Macau, the FIA Formula 3 European Championship and the Formula 3 Euroseries, on each occasion in a Mercedes-powered car.
ROKiT Venturi Racing
Norman Nato
ROKiT Venturi Racing's reserve driver, Norman Nato again joins the Rookie Test in Marrakesh for the Monegasque based team. Alongside his duties at Venturi, the Frenchman can be found racing in the World Endurance Championship but he also has past experience in single-seaters finishing runner-up in F4 Eurocup 1.6 and Formula Renault 2.0 Alps and also claiming three wins in the GP2 (now Formula 2) series. The test will give Nato a chance to familiarise himself with the Silver Arrow 01 at the Moulay El Hassan street circuit.
ROKiT Venturi Racing
Arthur Leclerc
ROKiT Venturi Racing is again bringing Arthur Leclerc to the 2020 Rookie Test in Marrakesh. Leclerc first joined Venturi as their simulator driver for the 2017/18 season and took part in last season's test. After graduating from karting the Monegasque driver is following in the footsteps of his elder brother, Charles, and working his way up the single-seater racing ladder. The Rookie Test allows Leclerc to experience the team's new Mercedes-Benz EQ powered electric racer on a Formula E street circuit.
audi sport abt schaeffler
Kelvin van der Linde
23-year-old Kelvin van der Linde has been a member of the Audi Sport customer racing team since 2015. Winning the ADAC GT Masters drivers’ title twice, the South African racing driver also won the Nurburgring 24 Hours as well as other endurance races for Audi. On March 1, he will partner Mattia Drudi, making his debut in Formula E at the rookie test.
audi sport abt scheaffler
mattia drudi
Drudi joined the driver line-up of the Audi Sport customer racing team in February 2019 and contested the Spa 24 Hours, among others, at the wheel of an Audi R8 LMS. Over the last few months, the 21-year-old has supported the two regular drivers, Daniel Abt and Lucas di Grassi, with work in the Formula E simulator. On March 1, the Italian driver will take to the streets of Marrakesh alongsideKelvin van der Linde.
