With the 2015/16 FIA Formula E Championship’s highly-anticipated return edging ever closer, RENAULT e.dams achieved all they set out to over the course of the three official pre-season tests at Donington Park and finished on a high by topping the times during this week’s final two days (August 24/25).
Experienced drivers Nico Prost and Sébastien Buemi certainly demonstrated their expertise during the final running at the rain-hit Leicestershire circuit by respectively posting the first and second quickest times of the week.
Indeed, the entire team were satisfied with the overall performance of the new-for-2015 Renault Z.E.15 powertrain at end-of-play on Tuesday having accomplished all they were hoping to achieve ahead of the high-tech all-electric series’ opening round in Beijing on October 17.
• The team were able to complete long runs under race conditions, simulations at the 200 kilowatts permitted for qualifying, and practice car changes.
• Any issues identified since the programme began were resolved over the course of the three two-day test sessions.
• Prost had the opportunity to run at the maximum output of 170kW in race trim power level on Tuesday, while Buemi tried the upgraded Williams battery on Monday.
• Nico’s 1m30.513s set on Tuesday morning was enough to end the final test session on top of the times, and was also the fourth fastest across all six days.
• The Frenchman completed a total of 214 laps at the 2.498-mile Donington circuit.
• Second-quickest Buemi recorded a 1m30.801s, which was also set on Tuesday morning.
• Sébastien’s best time of 1m30.382s set during the fourth test day broke his own personal best from last year and placed him third fastest overall.
Vincent Gaillardot, Renault Formula E Project Leader: “Obviously this was an important test for us with it being the last official running before we go to Beijing. We had to make sure our new powertrain delivered everything we expected it to, and tick all of our boxes. Although the rain limited running time somewhat it meant we could check the insulation, which is key for electric vehicles. But overall we were able to work through the programme and are happy with the general performance.”
#8 Nico Prost: “Although last week we were perhaps a little lost, these past two days have been really good from my side of the garage. I think we had consistently good pace all day so I’m really happy with the progress we’ve made. That said, we have to remain humble because the competition is really fierce. ABT and Virgin Racing are both looking strong so we’re not getting over-confident!”
#9 Sébastien Buemi: “To be honest, I feel that we could have done some things better today to really achieve our full potential but the most important thing was to prepare for Beijing. Overall, though, the car works well; we’ve improved its reliability and had time to drive in all conditions. I’m looking forward to seeing how we do in China and how the car reacts on the street circuits.”