Just Electric

Hartley and Jani complete over 1000km in testing for Porsche

Brendon Hartley and Neel Jani have surpassed the 1000km mark while testing for Porsche ahead of the German marque’s Formula E debut at the start of Season 6.

The testing was being conducted at the Circuit Calafat near L’Ametlla de Mar in Spain.

Jani is no stranger to Formula E having competed at the opening round of Season 4 in Hong Kong before mutually agreeing to part ways with Dragon Racing.

Hartley meanwhile was coming into the test after a season in F1 for Toro Rosso where he scored a best result of ninth at Circuit of The Americas.

Both of them, however, are no strangers to driving for Porsche having both competed for the manufacturer for the duration of their LMP1 programme in the World Endurance Championship.

Hartley and Jani won a combined 16 races in the series, three championships and two wins at the prestigious Le Mans 24 Hours.

As the regular driver of the car, Jani was in an upbeat mood following the test saying: “I feel the tests with the Porsche Formula E car at Calafat were very positive.

“It is hugely important to get as many kilometres as possible under our belt during the test phase for our Formula E race car and, in doing so, to gain valuable experience – particularly from a technical point of view.

“They have been very productive days.

“I am now looking forward to working with the team over the coming months, as we strive to get the very best out of the Porsche Formula E race car.”

Hartley, the test and development driver, was also looking forward to supporting the team adding: “As a test and development driver, it’s my job to support the Porsche Formula E programme with preparations for Season 6 of Formula E.

“My main focus has been on the simulation work in Weissach.

“Testing the car on track has been both an enjoyable and challenging experience.

“It is, of course, enjoyable to drive the car, however, contributing and working with the talented group of people at Porsche on this project is also a real pleasure.”

Team manager, Amiel Lindsey, was pleased with the results thus far remarking: “We are very happy with the Porsche Formula E tests at Calafat.

“We completed an extensive test programme and have laid the foundations for the coming months.

“The data generated will form a good basis.

“We will now analyse it in detail to be able to prepare as well as possible for the coming test work.”

Whenever a new car is being tested on the track, the early tests will naturally focus on reliability.

After all the car could be blisteringly quick but if it can’t finish a race then is that speed being optimised in the best possible way?

Technical director Malte Huneke believes that the focus on reliability is the best route to take, adding: “The findings from these tests will allow us to take a big step forward in the development of the Porsche powertrain.

“The primary focus in this phase of preparations is on reliability before we then concentrate on performance at a later date.

“We still have a lot of work ahead of us, but development is completely on track”

Photo courtesy Porsche AG

Rob Lomas

Privacy Policy

Click here to read our Privacy Policy.

%d bloggers like this: