Home F1 Drugovich fastest from Martins in Formula E rookie test at Berlin

Drugovich fastest from Martins in Formula E rookie test at Berlin

24/04/2023

F2 champion Felipe Drugovich led the way in the Formula E rookie test in Berlin from current racers Victor Martins and Zane Maloney.

Morning –

Sheldon van der Linde (Jaguar TCS Racing) headed the way in the opening session of the Berlin Rookie Test, as an ultra-competitive field got their first taste of Formula E machinery. Current DTM champion and sportscar driver Sheldon van der Linde took top spot in the morning’s running at the Berlin Rookie Test, and with a 300kW lap, to boot – not the full-power 350kW available.

His 1m05.814s was just half a second away from the fastest time seen over the SABIC Berlin E-Prix weekend, set in similar, dry conditions. The South African – brother of Kelvin van der Linde who stepped in at ABT CUPRA earlier this season – also completed the most laps of the morning, with 67 under his belt with some 1,035 laps driven by the 21 drivers that hit the track.

Luca Ghiotto (Nissan) wound up second, just 0.073s back. The former FIA Formula 2 driver’s best lap was set in 350kW mode, as did Mahindra Racing Test and Reserve driver Jehan Daruvala in third and former Formula 1 driver Danil Kvyat in fourth spot.

Incumbent FIA Formula 2 champion Felipe Drugovich jumped into the Maserati MSG Racing fold for the day, and found himself 12th in the morning’s running, 0.765s shy of the ultimate pace. Reigning FIA Formula 3 champion, Victor Martins, fared better in the Nissan – winding up eighth, inside half a second of van der Linde’s benchmark.

Afternoon and overall –

FIA Formula 2 champion Felipe Drugovich (Maserati MSG Racing) set the fastest time at the Berlin Rookie Test; inside the quickest Julius Baer Pole Position effort of the SABIC Berlin E-Prix weekend and just two tenths of a second off the best time set in practice by Maximilian Guenther – in the same car.

The afternoon’s running proved quicker than the morning’s with Drugovic, Victor Martins (Nissan), Zane Maloney (Avalanche Andretti) and Luca Ghiotto (Nissan) all inside Sheldon van der Linde’s benchmark from the opening session. Current DTM champion and sportscar driver van der Linde couldn’t replicate his earlier pace and ended up in the wall by the Airplane turn with the right front corner and front wing of his Jaguar I-PACE 6 missing.

He wound up in 16th this time around. Drugovich his the incumbent F2 champion and his 1m05.509s lap, set towards the end of the three-hour second session of the day, was only 0.208s slower than the quickest time of the SABIC Berlin E-Prix weekend set by Maximilian Guenther – in the same Maserati MSG Racing Tipo Folgore in Free Practice 2. The time also beat any set in either Rounds 7 or 8 proper.

Reigning FIA Formula 3 champion Martins was a tenth of a second back from Drugovic in the end with FIA Rookie of the Year and current F2 racer Maloney third as the chequered flag was thrown. Former F2 driver Ghiotto added the fourth fastest time in the afternoon to the second quickest time he sealed in the morning’s running while Scuderia Ferrari reserve driver Robert Schwarzman and Mahindra Racing reserve Jehan Daruvala rounded out the top six runners.