Maximilian Guenther was fastest on three of the four days of Formula E testing at Valencia, with Norman Nato being the only other.
Day 1:
Maximilian Guenther and Maserati MSG Racing got off to a good start after topping both sessions on the first day of the official ABB FIA Formula E World Championship test in Valencia. With changing conditions the times weren’t as quick as the opening morning session, but one thing that didn’t change was Guenther topping the timesheets. The German lapping the Circuit Ricardo Tormo with a best time of 1:26.221 before the skies opened and soaked the Spanish circuit.
Guenther has been on rails today, after his 1:26.096 this morning, the Maserati driver continued that form into the afternoon. He blitzed the track picking up the fastest time in the final two sectors for a clean sweep today. TAG Heuer Porsche had a decent showing as Pascal Wehrlein led new recruit Antonio Felix da Costa for second and third. Wehrlein was just a pinch behind his compatriot, ending the session four hundredths from Guenther’s best of the afternoon. Da Costa was just under half a second away from the two quick Germans – an impressive debut for the Portuguese driver with the Stuttgart squad.
Edoardo Mortara was fourth, completing a nice Maserati sandwich with the Porsche filling, the Swiss-Italian settling in nicely with the Maserati-badged DS powertrain. Following the Maserati driver was some more DS power with the DS Penske pairing in fifth and sixth. Reigning World Champion Stoffel Vandoorne looking resplendent in the familiar gold of the French marque with his two-time champion teammate Jean-Eric Vergne behind – showcasing that the French manufacturer seems to have cracked this new Gen3 machine so far.
The session wasn’t completely smooth with a batch of red flags. First was to remove Jake Hughes’ stricken NEOM McLaren from between Turns 5 and 6 and then later on NIO 333’s Sergio Sette Camara needed a tow from the very same place. It was a tough three hours for Norman Nato at Nissan, with the Frenchman experiencing some issues with his Nissan. Former champion and Envision Racing’s new signing Sebastien Buemi also ended up the session at the bottom of the order after being unable to set a time during the session.
Session 2 results: https://resources.formula-e.pulselive.com/formula-e/document/2022/12/13/32eb70d0-f041-4147-8776-dc0e55f6c83b/valencia-test-session-2-results.pdf
Day 2:
Maserati MSG Racing’s Maximilian Guenther posted the quickest time of the week so far in a timed test session as the Formula E pack passed the half way stage of the Valencia test. The German had led the way in both of the test sessions on day one at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo and followed up with the fastest time of the test so far, beneath the previous quickest time set by a Formula E car at the circuit with a 1m25.449s.
Guenther has headed the way in two previous pre-season tests and has so far hit the ground running here in the new Tipo Folgore. His effort followed a race day simulation which made up the third session of the week. Stoffel Vandoorne continues to bed himself in at new team DS PENSKE. The reigning champion set the second quickest time of the day, though more than a quarter of a second shy of Guenther.
Norman Nato in the Nissan went third quickest, with a time set with half an hour remaining of the two-hour session. The Frenchman is back in Formula E for Season 9 after a year’s hiatus having left Venturi at the end of Season 7 and will be looking to hit the form that saw him seal a maiden win in Berlin that year. Jean-Eric Vergne made it two DS PENSKEs in the top four and Edo Mortara ensured there’d be two Maseratis in the top six once again with the fifth fastest time of the session. Rookie Jake Hughes impressed again for NEOM McLaren to come home seventh, just 0.019s back from Robin Frijns – the ABT CUPRA new boy rounding out the top six.
Day 3:
Nissan’s Norman Nato fired to the top of the timesheets on Thursday’s fifth test session from Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia. On his first official Formula E outing following his return to the series after a year out, the Frenchman steered to a 1m25.776s lap, which was enough to pip next best driver Oliver Rowland in the Mahindra by a tenth of a second.
Sebastien Buemi, Envision Racing’s new signing, turned in a 1m26.066s to placve third with Edo Mortara continuing Maserati MSG Racing’s hot streak with the fourth quickest time of the hour-long session. The two Jaguar TCR Racing I-TYPE 6s, with Mitch Evans heading Sam Bird.
Reigning champion Stoffel Vandoorne (DS PENSKE) looked to have pinched the benchmark time at the last, only for his final run to be deleted for exceeding track limits. Maximilian Guenther’s streak of three table topping times came to an end – the German found himself 19th this time around and a couple of seconds away from the ultimate pace.
Day 4:
Maserati MSG Racing’s Maximilian Guenther capped off a dominant performance in preparation for Season 9 with another testing lap record around the Circuit Ricardo Tormo, Valencia. The German bounded to the top of the timesheets in the final half hour of the pre-season test. The 25-year-old putting in a commanding display in his first public outing since joining the Monegasque team, leaving it to the last day to put in the best time of the week with a 1:25.127.
Another driver who has quickly acclimatised with his new surroundings at DS PENSKE was Stoffel Vandoorne, the reigning World Champion looking good to be in the fight to defend his title after this week’s running. He ended the final session a tenth behind the German’s best. Oliver Rowland had been the form man for Mahindra Racing for the bulk of the session, setting the fastest time at the halfway stage.
The British driver’s time was good enough to stick to the end and claim him third. Putting in an impressive performance this week was Jake Hughes, the NEOM McLaren rookie only finished outside of the top 10 on one occasion this week and picked up the fourth best time in the afternoon.
Next up was Sam Bird who made it a trio of Brits in the top five as the Jaguar TCS Racing driver logged his best lap of the test on the final day. It wasn’t the same fate for Bird’s teammate Mitch Evans, last season’s runner-up brought out a red-flag after his car shut down in the closing stages.
Here’s the gallery: https://www.fiaformulae.com/en/news/11877/gallery-day-1-and-2-at-the-valencia-test
[Note: The story is as per press release]
