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Formula E Pre-Season Testing: Day Four: Nissan’s dream day

Written by Teagan Crump, Edited by Vyas Ponnuri


Both test sessions on Thursday were topped by Nissan drivers, a change from Wednesday's Mahindra dominance, during Formula E’s final day of pre-season testing in Valencia. Norman Nato claimed first in the morning test, with teammate and reigning champion Rowland claiming the afternoon’s fastest time.


Norman Nato led the morning test | Credit: Formula E
Norman Nato led the morning test | Credit: Formula E

The day started the same way that Wednesday had ended: a Mahindra Racing driver on top of the time sheet, only this time it was the other Mahindra driver — Nyck de Vries. He set an early best, followed by rookie driver Drugovich in the middle of a Mahindra sandwich with Mortara third fastest. 


Jaguar’s new kid on the block, da Costa, soon took the top spot, cementing Jaguar TCS Racing as an early favourite for Season 12. Soon, he was knocked off of first position, with 2020- 2021 champion de Vries reclaiming the top spot. 


Tuesday afternoon’s fastest driver, Ticktum, set a time of 1:23.037, making him the fastest driver of the first hour. He beat da Costa to the top spot by just under one hundredth.


The usual running soon returned, with Mortara breaking into the 1:21s with a time of 1:21.995. The battle for the top spot soon returned to a fight between two favourites: Mortara and Wehrlein. The drivers swapped the top spots continuously until de Vries beat them both with a 1:21.65.


Last season’s champion, Rowland seemed to be struggling- he was 3.906 seconds off the pace in the morning session. Second fastest was a battle between Nato and Evans before eventually de Vries and Mortara claimed the top two spots.


At the end of the first session, Nato claimed first with de Vries and Mortara close behind. 


The final classification from the morning session on Thursday was as follows:


  1. Norman Nato (Nissan)- 1:21.502 (38 laps)

  2. Nyck de Vries (Mahindra)- 1:21.652 (48 laps)

  3. Edoardo Mortara (Mahindra)- 1:21.676 (46 laps)

  4. Jake Dennis (Andretti)- 1:21.688 (47 laps)

  5. Dan Ticktum (Cupra Kiro)- 1:21.698 (47 laps)

  6. Mitch Evans (Jaguar)- 1:21.710 (48 laps)

  7. Felipe Drugovich (Andretti)- 1:21.808 (46 laps)

  8. Nico Müller (Porsche)- 1:21.821- (43 laps)

  9. Taylor Barnard (DS Penske)- 1:21.33 (42 laps)

  10. Pepe Martí (Cupra Kiro)- 1:21.852 (39 laps)

  11. Pascal Wehrlein (Porsche)- 1:21.893 (42 laps)

  12. Nick Cassidy (Citroën Racing)- 1:21.922 (53 laps)

  13. Oliver Rowland (Nissan)- 1:21.959 (51 laps)

  14. Sébastien Buemi (Envision Racing)- 1:21.986 (46 laps)

  15. António Félix da Costa (Jaguar)- 1:22.025 (48 laps)

  16. Maximilian Günther (DS Penske)- 1:22.042 (49 laps)

  17. Lucas Di Grassi (Lola Yamaha ABT)- 1:22.080 (37 laps)

  18. Jean-Éric Vergne (Citroën Racing)- 1:22.128 (53 laps)

  19. Zane Maloney (Lola Yamaha ABT)- 1:22.302 (48 laps)

  20. Joel Eriksson (Envision Racing)- 1:22.518 (44 laps)


The afternoon session: Another Nissan on top


Nissan’s Rowland claimed the top spot in the afternoon session | Credit: Formula E
Nissan’s Rowland claimed the top spot in the afternoon session | Credit: Formula E

When the testing recommenced, it was Cupra Kiro’s Ticktum who led the charge. He was shortly challenged by Rowland, who was only 0.011 seconds slower than his fellow Briton.


Later on, Nissan’s Nato, who claimed the fastest time of the morning, repeated his success with a time of 1:21.278.


A three-way battle for the top spot saw Evans, Rowland and Barnard continuously improve on one another’s times before the reigning champion took first position by the slim margin of two milliseconds, ahead of DS Penske’s Barnard. 


The two Mahindra drivers were not doing as well as in previous sessions, managing third and fifth fastest. Despite this minor setback, Mortara claimed the fastest time of the whole test.


The afternoon session was topped by Oliver Rowland, with Barnard and Mortara taking second and third, respectively.


Mortara ended the week of testing with the fastest overall time | Credit: Motorsport Week
Mortara ended the week of testing with the fastest overall time | Credit: Motorsport Week

The final classification from the afternoon session on Thursday were as follows:


  1. Oliver Rowland (Nissan)- 1:21.498 (52 laps)

  2. Taylor Barnard (DS Penske)- 1:21.500 (52 laps)

  3. Edoardo Mortara (Mahindra)- 1:21.531 (50 laps)

  4. Norman Nato (Nissan)- 1:21.552 (46 laps)

  5. Nyck de Vries (Mahindra)- 1:21.598 (50 laps)

  6. Jake Dennis (Andretti)- 1:21.599 (44 laps)

  7. Pascal Wehrlein (Porsche)- 1:21.653 (52 laps)

  8. Dan Ticktum (Cupra Kiro)- 1:21.657 (50 laps)

  9. Sébastien Buemi (Envision Racing)- 1:21.673 (54 laps)

  10. Nick Cassidy (Citroën Racing)- 1:21.677 (47 laps)

  11. Pepe Martí (Cupra Kiro)- 1:21.708 (46 laps)

  12. Mitch Evans (Jaguar)- 1:21.729 (31 laps)

  13. Nico Müller (Porsche)- 1:21.742- (55 laps)

  14. Maximilian Günther (DS Penske)- 1:21.797 (49 laps)

  15. António Félix da Costa (Jaguar)- 1:21.981 (43 laps)

  16. Jean-Éric Vergne (Citroën Racing)- 1:22.060 (31 laps)

  17. Felipe Drugovich (Andretti)- 1:21.061 (49 laps)

  18. Zane Maloney (Lola Yamaha ABT)- 1:22.086 (53 laps)

  19. Lucas Di Grassi (Lola Yamaha ABT)- 1:22.211 (51 laps)

  20. Joel Eriksson (Envision Racing)- 1:22.361 (50 laps)




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