Nick Cassidy set the pace on the final day of Formula E pre-season testing, in what’s been a turbulent and eventful week for everyone at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia.
Jaguar TCS Racing’s pace is evident, with Cassidy topping Friday having completed a clean sweep for the British manufacturer, as Mitch Evans was quickest on Tuesday morning and on Thursday afternoon.
To make up for the time lost following the battery fire on Tuesday afternoon, the final day was extended to a straight 10-hour session; however, the first hour was used to complete a mock-race. The mock-race saw the drivers enter the pits and remain stationary for the amount of time they would if they were receiving fast-charging, in what was an interesting spectacle.
It was Robin Frijns who won the mock-race, although it was far from an accurate representation of the pecking order. When normal service resumed, it was a Jaguar 1-3 come the end of the session, with just under a tenth of a second separating Cassidy and Evans.
In between the Jaguar duo was Maximilian Günther, who was 0.041s behind Cassidy’s leading time of 1m 24.617s. Ahead of testing this week, Günther had been the fastest driver in three of the last years, although the top spot wasn’t to be ahead of season 10.
Mock-race winner Frijns was fourth quickest, meaning three Jaguar powertrains featured in the top-four. Then came the first of the Porsches, as Pascal Wehrlein completed the top-five. Norman Nato was sixth for Andretti Formula E, ahead of Oliver Rowland and Jake Hughes.
Reigning World Champion Jake Dennis could only manage ninth, with season eight World Champion Stoffel Vandoorne completing the top-10.
Rookie Jehan Daruvala enjoyed another solid day in P13, whilst the returning Nyck de Vries was back in action after missing Thursday’s session. It came at a cost though, as the Dutchman spent the day in Edoardo Mortara’s car, due to his not being able to take part in the session. As a result, Mortara didn’t complete any running on the final day.
To make up for not being able to use both cars due to sustaining damage from the fire, Mahindra Racing have been granted additional private testing time at a venue of their choice. At the back of the field were both ERT Formula E Team drivers. Remarkably, just over seven-tenths of a second separated the 21 drivers.
Just like that, Formula E testing has drawn to a close, with all the cars not set to be seen on track together again until the season-opener in Mexico City. Considering what happened on Tuesday afternoon, Formula E and the FIA did a tremendous job to ensure that testing could resume, with only 30 minutes having technically been lost courtesy of the extended sessions on Thursday and Friday.
Jaguar certainly appear to be the team to beat come Mexico City, with Cassidy having been the quickest at 300kW, whilst Evans’ time at 350kW on Tuesday morning was the quickest of the week.
