Yesterday (5 March), Porsche completed their first on-track run of their new Formula E car, kicking off their testing programme ahead of their 2019/20 FIA Formula E Championship entry.
Works driver Neel Jani was behind the wheel of the new car which lapped the Weissach test circuit incident free, giving the manufacturer valuable data for its first run of the newly developed Porsche powertrain.
“The newly developed Porsche powertrain for Formula E completed its baptism of fire.” said Vice President Porsche Motorsport, Fritz Enzinger.
“It is an important day for everyone involved in this project. Many thanks to everyone who has poured their heart and soul into the construction of the powertrain and car in recent months and made this successful rollout possible.
“We still have a lot of work to do on the road to our works entry in Formula E, but an important initial step has been taken. Now we will be fully focused as we continue to work on familiarising ourselves with the particular challenges of Formula E.”
Jani was honoured to be the first driver to drive the Porsche Formula E car “I am very proud to have been behind the wheel the first time our Formula E racing car was driven. Being allowed to drive the rollout is not only a great honour, it is also very exciting.
“We’re breaking new ground. It was a fantastic feeling for me. Everyone in the team feels it: The project is really gaining momentum now.
“We didn’t push it to the limit during the rollout, but the powertrain and the car made a very good first impression overall. I can’t wait to get back to testing.”
Porsche Formula E Team Manager Amiel Lindesay knows that it isn’t going to be a easy ride in to the championship, and is happy that the test programme has reached its important milestone.
“We know that we will face very tough competition in Formula E, which to some extent has more experience than us.” said Lindesay.
“This makes it even more important for us that we have taken the next step in development with the rollout. With each additional test, we will gain new insights and optimise the performance of the car.”
Credit: Porsche
Technical Project Leader Malte Huneke added, “The development of a Formula E car fully streamlined for efficiency and lightweight construction is a great challenge for our team of engineers.
“Seeing the car in action for the first time gave us goose bumps. Compared with production development, the demands in terms of efficiency and weight of the powertrain in Formula E are on a very different level. Now we will approach the limit one step at a time. This will be essential to make it in Formula E.”
