Donington Park once again hosted the Formula E testing and for the second time in three days, e.dams-Renault‘s Sebastien Buemi topped the times.
Not only did Buemi’s 1 minute 31.910 seconds prove to be enough to take the top time, it also beat Lucas Di Grassi‘s best time from day two.
However, the ex-Formula 1 driver does not look into the times too much, as he continues to learn the car.
“Today has been good and very productive but it’s not about trying to set the fastest time,” commented Buemi. “It’s about getting a better understanding of the car and the different mapping settings. The car has been reliable all day and the team have done a good job. It’s great to be in a car that you can rely on and know you can push when you need to. We still have a few issues to work on but overall it was a productive session.”
Buemi may not read into the times too much, but he did have to see off a strong challenge from Di Grassi who led the way early on, before Buemi beat his lap by over a second.
Di Grassi later ended the day in third after Jerome D’Ambrosio beat him to second. Looking to impress his possible future team, China Racing, D’Ambrosio took second with a 1 minute 32.035 seconds after testing both cars.
Stephane Sarrazin of Venturi GP was also able to take advantage of both cars, with teammate Nick Heidfeld away. He used both cars to take fourth ahead of Virgin Racing‘s Jaime Alguersuari.
The rest of the top ten saw Nicolas Prost, Buemi’s teammate, finish sixth ahead of Mahindra Racing‘s Bruno Senna. Audi Sport ABT‘s Daniel Abt then sneaked ahead of Virgin Racing‘s Sam Bird for eighth before Jarno Trulli rounded off the top ten positions.
Michela Cerutti of TrulliGP, and Trulli’s teammate, finished outside the top ten times, but the driver was more focused on the car than times. “It’s been much better,” said Cerutti. “I’ve done a few laps and can understand a lot more about the tyres and the brakes and how to warm them up. I’m happy with the work we did today. We didn’t have any special problems, the next goal is to concentrate on performance.”
Formula E will test once again tomorrow, before the last test day takes place in August, right before the series has its first ever race at the Beijing ePrix.
