Alex Sims set the fastest lap time for BMW i Andretti Motorsport as Formula E’s pre-season test started, with 22 cars present for the three-day test in Valencia.
Paffett lost control in the braking zone for the chicane on the pit straight and hit the wall, bringing out the red flags as the car had to be removed.
Sims’ fastest lap time was a 1:17.567 compared to the 1:18.669 set by Sam Bird last year despite the tighter chicane on the pit straight.
Antonio Felix da Costa was second as the BMW team showed very strong pace with the IFE.18
Audi’s Lucas di Grassi, and the DS Techeetah pairing of Jean-Eric Vergne and Andre Lotterer rounded out the top 5.
They seemed to be the only drivers who tried a qualifying simulation run.
Daniel Abt was sixth fastest for Audi Sport Abt Schaeffler ahead of the Virgin Racing-run car of Sam Bird.
Mitch Evans was eighth fastest for Jaguar ahead of Nissan’s Sebastien Buemi and series newcomer Felipe Massa rounded out the top ten for Venturi.
Massa’s teammate, Edoardo Mortara was 11th fastest in the other Venturi ahead of Virgin’s Robin Frijns and Tom Dillmann in the fastest of the NIOs.
Mahindra Racing’s Jerome d’Ambrosio was 14th fastest ahead of Jose Maria Lopez in the faster of the two Dragon Racing entries and Oliver Turvey in the second NIO.
D’Ambrosio’s teammate and newcomer to Formula E, Pascal Wehrlein was 17th fastest ahead of the HWA run Venturi of Stoffel Vandoorne and the Jaguar of Nelson Piquet.
After Paffett was Max Gunther in the second of the Dragon Racing entries and rounding out the 22 driver field was Alex Albon who didn’t set a time due to technical issues with his Nissan.
Driver | Team | Fastest Time | Laps |
---|---|---|---|
Alexander Sims | BMW i Andretti Motorsport | 1:17.567 | 33 |
Antonio Felix da Costa | BMW i Andretti Motorsport | 1:17.734 | 36 |
Lucas di Grassi | Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler | 1:17.739 | 38 |
Jean-Eric Vergne | DS Techeetah | 1:18.033 | 22 |
Andre Lotterer | DS Techeetah | 1:18.227 | 33 |
Daniel Abt | Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler | 1:18.513 | 40 |
Sam Bird | Envision Virgin Racing | 1:18.732 | 28 |
Mitch Evans | Jaguar Racing | 1:18.747 | 15 |
Sebastien Buemi | Nissan e.dams | 1:18.902 | 21 |
Felipe Massa | Venturi Formula E | 1:19.140 | 39 |
Edoardo Mortara | Venturi Formula E | 1:19.219 | 43 |
Robin Frijns | Envision Virgin Racing | 1:19.275 | 27 |
Tom Dillmann | NIO Formula E | 1:19.300 | 21 |
Jerome d'Ambrosio | Mahindra Racing | 1:19.535 | 30 |
Jose Maria Lopez | Dragon Racing | 1:20.631 | 29 |
Oliver Turvey | NIO Formula E | 1:20.865 | 18 |
Pascal Wehrlein | Mahindra Racing | 1:20.915 | 8 |
Stoffel Vandoorne | HWA Racelab | 1:21.023 | 13 |
Nelson Piquet | Jaguar Racing | 1:21.629 | 42 |
Gary Paffett | HWA Racelab | 1:22.083 | 7 |
Max Guenther | Dragon Racing | 1:32.242 | 3 |
Alexander Albon | Nissan e.dams | 0 | |