Frijns tops opening day of Formula E pre-season test

Envision Racing’s Robin Frijns set the pace on the opening day of running at Formula E’s pre-season test in Valencia ahead of the upcoming 2021-2022 season. 
Frijns tops opening day of Formula E pre-season test

A new-look Formula E field returned to the Circuit 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 with a Saudi Arabia double-header in January. 

The opening 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 the 1m26s bracket all day. 

Fijns ended up nearly two-tenths clear of Jean-Eric Vergne, who outpaced DS Techeetah teammate Antonio Felix da Costa by just 0.002s to take second spot in the afternoon and overall. 

Nick Cassidy was fourth-quickest for Envision Racing, while morning pacesetter Sam Bird put his Jaguar Racing car fifth on combined times. 

Frijns tops opening day of Formula E pre-season test

Porsche racer Andre Lotterer took sixth, ahead of Jaguar Racing’s Mitch Evans. 

2016/2017 champion Lucas di Grassi was second-fastest in the morning and eighth 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 Mortara and Jake Dennis, who rounded out the top 10 for the rebranded Avalanche Andretti squad. 

Reigning champion Nyck de Vries and teammate Stoffel Vandoorne both featured inside the top 10 in the morning, before the Mercedes pair languished at the very bottom of the order in the afternoon. 

New Andretti recruit Oliver Askew was the 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 Alexander 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 continues on Tuesday.

Valencia Pre-Season Testing Day 1 - Morning
PositionDriverNationalityTeamTime 
1Sam BirdGBRJaguar TCS Racing1m27.169s 
2Lucas di GrassiBRAROKiT Venturi Racing1m27.270s
3Robin FrijnsNEDEnvision Racing1m27.321s
4Edoardo MortaraSUIROKiT Venturi Racing1m27.415s 
5Antonio Felix da CostaPORDS Techeetah1m27.465s
6Oliver RowlandGBRMahindra Racing1m27.577s
7Mitch EvansNZLJaguar TCS Racing1m27.599s 
8Jake DennisGBRAvalanche Andretti Formula E1m27.602s 
9Nyck de VriesNEDMercedes-EQ Formula E Team1m27.608s 
10Stoffel VandoorneBELMercedes-EQ Formula E Team1m27.623s 
11Maximilian GüntherGERNissan e.dams1m27.690s 
12Nick CassidyNZLEnvision Racing1m27.867s 
13Sebastien BuemiSUINissan e.dams1m27.933s
14Sergio Sette CâmaraBRADragon / Penske Autosport1m27.942s 
15Alexander SimsGBRMahindra Racing1m28.099s 
16Pascal WehrleinGERTAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team1m28.145s
17Jean-Eric VergneFRADS Techeetah1m28.156s 
18Oliver TurveyGBRNIO 333 FE Team1m28.179s 
19Andre LottererGERTAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team1m28.195s 
20Oliver AskewUSAAvalanche Andretti Formula E1m28.399s 
21Antonio GiovinazziITADragon / Penske Autosport1m28.602s 
22Dan TicktumGBRNIO 333 FE Team1m28.834s 

 

Valencia Pre-Season Testing Day 1 - Afternoon 
PositionDriverNationalityTeamTime 
1Robin FrijnsNEDEnvision Racing1m26.968s 
2Jean-Eric VergneFRADS Techeetah1m27.141s
3Antonio Felix da CostaPORDS Techeetah1m27.143s
4Nick CassidyNZLEnvision Racing1m27.154s
5Andre LottererGERTAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team1m27.198s 
6Mitch EvansNZLJaguar TCS Racing1m27.262s
7Jake DennisGBRAvalanche Andretti Formula E1m27.459s 
8Sebastien BuemiSUINissan e.dams1m27.658s 
9Maximilian GüntherGERNissan e.dams1m27.681s 
10Pascal WehrleinGERTAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team1m27.839s 
11Edoardo MortaraSUIROKiT Venturi Racing1m27.890s 
12Alexander SimsGBRMahindra Racing1m27.903s 
13Sam BirdGBRJaguar TCS Racing1m28.213s 
14Lucas di GrassiBRAROKiT Venturi Racing1m28.216s 
15Oliver AskewUSAAvalanche Andretti Formula E1m28.340s 
16Oliver RowlandGBRMahindra Racing1m28.619s 
17Sergio Sette CâmaraBRADragon / Penske Autosport1m28.758s 
18Dan TicktumGBRNIO 333 FE Team1m29.260s 
19Oliver TurveyGBRNIO 333 FE Team1m29.267s 
20Antonio GiovinazziITADragon / Penske Autosport1m30.136s 
21Stoffel VandoorneBELMercedes-EQ Formula E Team1m30.983s 
22Nyck de VriesNEDMercedes-EQ Formula E Team1m31.434s 

 

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