The 2020/21 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship gets underway in earnest this weekend with pre-season testing from Circuit Ricardo Tormo just outside Valencia. Here are your updates from Day 2.
[1700] This afternoon's classification
[1700] Late flurry leaves Lynn on top
As drivers scrambled to squeeze their final laps in before the chequered flag, Mahindra Racing's Alex Lynn flew to just the second sub-1:12 lap of the test so far, with a 1:11.941 to close out Sunday at the top of the times - undercutting the previous best time we'd seen in Valencia, set this morning by Antonio Felix da Costa, by 0.007 seconds.
Lynn and Maximilian Guenther (BMW i Andretti Motorsport) pipped Jake Dennis' earlier effort, leaving the rookie in an impressive third spot. Sam Bird's last gasp flier saw him home fourth fastest of the afternoon, just ahead of Edo Mortara (ROKiT Venturi Racing) fifth and Sergio Sette Camara (DRAGON / PENSKE AUTOSPORT) sixth.
It's a day of media duties for the drivers tomorrow, with more on-track action to follow on Tuesday.
[1643] Dennis goes top
Jake Dennis (BMW i Andretti Motorsport) posts the afternoon's fastest lap - a 1:12.306 - with Session 1 timesheet-topper Edo Mortara (ROKiT Venturi Racing) second, just 0.017 seconds shy, and Oliver Rowland (Nissan e.dams) third.
Only four drivers have yet to break the 20-lap mark this afternoon with just over ten minutes to run, with most having completed around 40. Plenty of mileage in the bank as teams look to learn all they can here in Valencia.
[1400] Back to it
We're underway with the afternoon's running. The cars are out on track completing their installation laps. Follow the action as it happens over at the Live Hub.
[Lunch] From the drivers
Sam Bird (Jaguar Racing):"Everybody has been super at Jaguar Racing and welcomed me with open arms. I’m getting used to their philosophy and their way of thinking pretty quickly.
"We are making sure we do all our homework ready for the start of the season. I’ve been racing with Mitch for years now and he’s a very good guy - friendly and talented in the car and our working relationship has been spot on."
Norman Nato (ROKiT Venturi Racing): "I’ve been working with the team for two years but being involved in the race car is completely different. As a rookie, I need to try avoid mistakes and it isn’t easy in Formula E.
"My goal is to show good performances this season, if you want to score points you need to avoid mistakes in this championship. We are simulating different conditions on track but most importantly I want to leave Valencia and feel ready for Santiago."
Pascal Wehrlein (TAG Heuer Porsche): "It’s an honour to be representing Porsche and it’s a great opportunity for me to be here. We are determined to achieve big things here and hopefully we can have a successful future together. "I love the work ethic - everyone shares the same goal and we all work hard to achieve it. Andre (Lotterer) is very experienced and gives very good feedback. It’s good to have him as my teammate."
[1200] This morning's classification
[1200] Antonio heads the way
The reigning champion posted the fastest time of testing so far to top the timesheets in the morning session of Day 2 from Valencia's Circuit Ricardo Tormo, with BMW i Andretti Motorsport's Max Guenther a tenth of a second back in second and Oliver Rowland (Nissan e.dams) third.
After yesterday's mixed conditions, with rain ruling Session 1 and a drying track making things difficult in the opening stages of Session 2 on Saturday, drivers and teams took advantage of three hours of stable conditions to work through their busy testing programmes and rack up the mileage.
Da Costa's time came late on in the session, but from its half-way stage, the majority of drivers had managed to squeak their way under Andre Lotterer's Saturday benchmark.
As the chequered flag fell, 23 of the 24 runners were covered by less than a second, with only Edo Mortara (ROKiT Venturi Racing), who was quickest out of the blocks in the opening session yesterday, outside of that bubble.
[1145] Times tumble
The timing screens have seen a shuffle, and now the first 13 runners sit within Andre Lotterer's Saturday best.
Antonio Felix da Costa (DS TECHEETAH) has posted the time to beat so far this morning, with a 1:11.948 a couple of tenths up the road from next best Oliver Rowland (Nissan e.dams). Jean-Eric Vergne is up there again, in third, and Max Guenther's earlier effort is still good enough for fourth.
As ever, times are always to be taken with a pinch of salt, as ultimate pace isn't always the priority with teams working through different, predetermined programmes of race runs, qualifying simulations and in different power deployments.
The circuit here in Valencia offers up a very different test to the street circuits found on the Formula E calendar, too. That said, being up there on the timesheets in any session can only be a source of encouragement that things are going in the right direction.
[1030] Half-way house
At the half-way stage of the morning session, it's Maximilian Guenther (BMW i Andretti Motorsport) that heads the way. The 23-year-old has posted a 1:12.308, which is the fastest time of testing so far, edging out Andre Lotterer's benchmark by a couple of tenths of-a-second.
"We’re trying things in all directions," said Guenther. "There are smaller things to tune and optimise but there are bigger things that I would never try on a race weekend that we can try here.
"The car and powertrain feels very good and I think we’ve done a good job over the off-season. We’ll see how good in a few weeks’ time in January, but the guys at the factory have done a very good job.
"We’re still improving and understanding the new car. So far, so good. You get a feel of the improvement as a driver for sure, but the data tells you all you need to know."
Lotterer (TAG Heuer Porsche) is lapping around the same pace he managed yesterday and currently sits second, with Jake Dennis third in the sister BMW. The young Brit is carving his way through his testing programme very nicely, and looks to have slotted in right away after an impressive opening day.
Only Pascal Wehrlein (TAG Heuer Porsche), Oliver Turvey (NIO 333) and Sebastien Buemi (Nissan e.dams) have completed fewer than 20 laps inside the opening 90 minutes' running, with the mileage being racked up once again as teams look to get a handle on their 2020/21 spec machinery and bed get their drivers up to speed.
Nissan e.dams' 2020/21 colours
Nissan unveiled its Season 7 livery yesterday evening down in the pit lane at Circuit Ricardo Tormo, in case you missed it!
The team has decided to run with the IM02 - its 2019/20 car - until April, opting to pour efforts into a later homologation, given the option with Formula E's cost consolidation measures introduced earlier this year as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
"I think we did a good job last year in finishing second in the Teams' Championship. We came from fourth in our debut season, so there is one more step to reach," said Sebastien Buemi.
"We've come to Valencia with a few updates that will help us challenge the big guys."
[0900] The circuit is live!
We're go at Valencia's Circuit Ricardo Tormo on Day 2 of testing ahead of the 2020/21 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship. Day 1 saw mixed conditions and interrupted testing programmes, with a morning's drizzle giving way to a dry afternoon's running.
Andre Lotterer (TAG Heuer Porsche) topped the timesheets with the fastest time overall yesterday with his 1:12.519, with the DS TECHEETAH pair of Jean-Eric Vergne and Antonio Felix da Costa following close by. The first 19 runners all lapped within a second of one another in the afternoon, and it was similarly tight in the morning, as the drivers racked up some 1800 laps between them.
Oliver Rowland (Nissan e.dams) led the field out on the hour, with every driver completing lap at least a lap within minutes of the green flag. The circuit's dry today, with little wind and no sign of rain - relief for the teams and drivers who had their schedules shaken up by the weather yesterday.
Sergio Sette Camara (DRAGON / PENSKE) is currently atop the timesheets with a 1:13.234.
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