Teams Complete Final Development Tests

Photo: DS Techeetah

The final on-track action in the manufacturer allocated test days for ABB FIA Formula E Championship teams came to an end on Monday.

E-racing365 understands that several teams ran at Calafat last week as the development phase reached its Oct. 1 deadline.

Panasonic Jaguar Racing, Mahindra Racing, Dragon and NIO were all in action last week as they completed their final preparations before the three days of official pre-season running at Valencia later this month.

Nelson Piquet Jr. ran in the Jaguar I-Type 3, while the British team carried out several race simulations on the Silverstone Stowe circuit earlier in September.

Mahindra mostly used Jerome d’Ambrosio and Pascal Wehrlein during its running last week as the Indian squad prepares to announce its driver lineup, which is expected to include d’Ambrosio.

Wehrlein’s situation is believed to be less certain after revelations at the weekend’s Russian Grand Prix that he is in the running for a potential Formula 1 seat with Toro Rosso.

Nick Heidfeld, who has taken part in testing of Mahindra’s M5Electro, is expected to fill the role of test and reserve driver for the team.

Dragon ran with Jose Maria Lopez and Maximilian Guenther during the week as it readies to formalize its squad later this month.

It also used a test day at Mallory Park which was compromized by poor weather at the Leicestershire circuit.

Lopez and Guenther, who are expected to start the season for the American-entered squad, are set to be confirmed ahead of the Valencia test on Oct. 16-19.

NIO ran Tom Dillmann and Oliver Turvey recently, after conducting an evaluation test with its Season Four car with Nyck de Vries.

The team will announce its lineup at a launch event in London on Monday, with Dillmann emerging as a late favorite for a race seat.

Venturi tested on a short layout at Circuit Paul Ricard last week with Edoardo Mortara, meanwhile.

While Virgin Racing is known to have shaken down its new Audi-powered car at Neuburg last month, HWA is believed to have not yet system-checked its customer Venturi cars ahead of the Valencia test.