Robin Frijns tops opening day of Formula E pre-season test at Valencia

A new-look Formula E field returned to the Circui♏t Ricardo Tormo for the first of three days of action in Valencia in the only combined on-track running prior to the new season kicking off witܫh a Saudi Arabia double-header in January.
The ope🅰ning day was split into a three-hour morning session and a shorter afternoon session, in which Frijns jumped to the top of the timesheets with an outright benchmark time of a 1m26.968s.
The Dutchman was the only driver to dip into ꦚthe 1m26s bracket all day.
Fijns ended up nearly two-tenths clear of Jean-Eric Verg𝔉ne, who outpaced DS Techeetah teammate Antonio Felix da Costa by just 0.002s to take second spot in the afternoon and overall. 𒐪;
Nick Cassidy was fourth-quic💃kest for Envision Racing, while morning pacesetter Sam Bird put his Jaguar Racing𓆉 car fifth on combined times.

Porsche racer Andre Lotterer took sixth, ahead of J෴aguar Racing’s Mitch Evans.
2016/2017 champion Lucas di Grassi was second-fastest in the morning and eigꦜhth overall 🍃on his first outing for Venturi since making the switch from Audi following the German marquee’s exit from the series.
The Brazilian outpaced new teammate and season seven runner-up Edoardo Mort⛎ara and Jake Dennis, who rounded out the top 10 ꦬfor the rebranded Avalanche Andretti squad.
Reigning champion Nyck de Vries and teammate Stoffel Vandoorne both fe﷽atured inside the top 10 in the morning, before the Mercedes pair languish🍌ed at the very bottom of the order in the afternoon.
New Andretti recruit Oliver Askew was t🐭he fastest of the three rookies ahead of outgoing Alfa Romeo Formula 1 racer Antonio Giovinazzi (Dragon-Penske) and Formula 2 frontrunner Dan Ticktum (NIO 333).
Aside from brief on-track stoppages for Mahindra duo Oliver Rowland and Alexand💟er Sims, there were no major reliability issues.
The afternoon session 💞ended early to feature a dedicated simulation run of Formula E’s new shoot-out style elimination qualifying format that will debut in season eight.
Pre-season testing in Valencia cont💛inues on Tues﷽day.
Valencia Pre-Season Testing Day 1 - Morning | ||||
Position | Driver | Nationality | Team | Time |
1 | Sam Bird | GBR | Jaguar TCS Racing | 1m27.169s |
2 | Lucas di Grassi | BRA | ROKiT Venturi Racing | 1m27.270s |
3 | Robin Frijns | NED | Envision Racing | 1m27.321s |
4 | Edoardo Mortara | SUI | ROKiT Venturi Racing | 1m27.415s |
5 | Antonio Felix da Costa | POR | DS Techeetah | 1m27.465s |
6 | Oliver Rowland | GBR | Mahindra Racing | 1m27.577s |
7 | Mitch Evans | NZL | Jaguar TCS Racing | 1m27.599s |
8 | Jake Dennis | GBR | Avalanche Andretti Formula E | 1m27.602s |
9 | Nyck de Vries | NED | Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team | 1m27.608s |
10 | Stoffel Vandoorne | BEL | Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team | 1m27.623s |
11 | Maximilian Günther | GER | Nissan e.dams | 1m27.690s |
12 | Nick Cassidy | NZL | Envision Racing | 1m27.867s |
13 | Sebastien Buemi | SUI | Nissan e.dams | 1m27.933s |
14 | Sergio Sette Câmara | BRA | Dragon / Penske Autosport | 1m27.942s |
15 | Alexander Sims | GBR | Mahindra Racing | 1m28.099s |
16 | Pascal Wehrlein | GER | TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team | 1m28.145s |
17 | Jean-Eric Vergne | FRA | DS Techeetah | 1m28.156s |
18 | Oliver Turvey | GBR | NIO 333 FE Team | 1m28.179s |
19 | Andre Lotterer | GER | TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team | 1m28.195s |
20 | Oliver Askew | USA | Avalanche Andretti Formula E | 1m28.399s |
21 | Antonio Giovinazzi | ITA | Dragon / Penske Autosport | 1m28.602s |
22 | Dan Ticktum | GBR | NIO 333 FE Team | 1m28.834s |
Valencia Pre-Season Testing Day 1 - Afternoon | ||||
Position | Driver | Nationality | Team | Time |
1 | Robin Frijns | NED | Envision Racing | 1m26.968s |
2 | Jean-Eric Vergne | FRA | DS Techeetah | 1m27.141s |
3 | Antonio Felix da Costa | POR | DS Techeetah | 1m27.143s |
4 | Nick Cassidy | NZL | Envision Racing | 1m27.154s |
5 | Andre Lotterer | GER | TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team | 1m27.198s |
6 | Mitch Evans | NZL | Jaguar TCS Racing | 1m27.262s |
7 | Jake Dennis | GBR | Avalanche Andretti Formula E | 1m27.459s |
8 | Sebastien Buemi | SUI | Nissan e.dams | 1m27.658s |
9 | Maximilian Günther | GER | Nissan e.dams | 1m27.681s |
10 | Pascal Wehrlein | GER | TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team | 1m27.839s |
11 | Edoardo Mortara | SUI | ROKiT Venturi Racing | 1m27.890s |
12 | Alexander Sims | GBR | Mahindra Racing | 1m27.903s |
13 | Sam Bird | GBR | Jaguar TCS Racing | 1m28.213s |
14 | Lucas di Grassi | BRA | ROKiT Venturi Racing | 1m28.216s |
15 | Oliver Askew | USA | Avalanche Andretti Formula E | 1m28.340s |
16 | Oliver Rowland | GBR | Mahindra Racing | 1m28.619s |
17 | Sergio Sette Câmara | BRA | Dragon / Penske Autosport | 1m28.758s |
18 | Dan Ticktum | GBR | NIO 333 FE Team | 1m29.260s |
19 | Oliver Turvey | GBR | NIO 333 FE Team | 1m29.267s |
20 | Antonio Giovinazzi | ITA | Dragon / Penske Autosport | 1m30.136s |
21 | Stoffel Vandoorne | BEL | Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team | 1m30.983s |
22 | Nyck de Vries | NED | Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team | 1m31.434s |

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