Yahoo Autos Beckmann tops third day of Formula E testing at Jarama
Kiro Race Co. continued to impress in Formula E pre-season testing with David Beckmann setting the fastest time of the third day of running at Circuito del Jarama.
While the morning three-hour session took place in cooler and cloudier conditions than the afternoon – or the previous two days – it was then that the fastest laps were set. Beckmann’s best lap of 1m27.755s in the customer Porsche car, set three laps before his morning running wrapped, was 0.653s quicker than Maximilian Guenther’s pace-setting time from Wednesday.
Beckmann – a Porsche development driver who, along with Dan Ticktum in the other Kiro car, is only signed for this week’s testing thus far – was only 0.008s quicker than Pascal Wehrlein, who was the first driver to crack the 1m 28s barrier earlier on in the most recent-spec Porsche. His factory team partner Antonio Felix da Costa was third as the last driver to dip below the 1m28s mark. Both Porsches had a spell at the top of the timesheets early on, as did Maserati MSG Racing’s Jake Hughes, who ended the morning fifth behind DS Penske driver Guenther driving with the same Stellantis powertrain.
Jaguar TCS Racing’s Mitch Evans went sixth quickest ahead of Nissan returnee Norman Nato, with NEOM McLaren’s Taylor Barnard, Oliver Rowland in the other Nissan, and DS Penske’s Jean-Eric Vergne rounding out the top 10.
Aside from logging laps, Thursday afternoon’s schedule also included a 24-lap “race exercise” – effectively a full mock race – which cut down the regular running. It offered a first chance to see four-wheel-drive race starts – a new feature also available in qualifying duels and after Attack Mode activation – as well as a first chance to see the new GEN3 Evo cars competing side-by-side. Yellow flag, safety car, and pit stop charging procedures were also run through.
That was “won” by Wehrlein ahead of da Costa with Jaguar TCS Racing’s Nick Cassidy third after being passed with two laps to go. Andretti’s Jake Dennis and Cassidy’s teammate Evans completed the top five.
Lola Yamaha Abt’s Zane Maloney failed to start the simulated race due to a technical issue that kept him out for the rest of the afternoon. In a statement provided to RACER by Abt Lola Yamaha, the team explained, “An electrical fault triggered the accident data recorder to flag a crash event which resulted in the battery switching off as per safety regulations. The team is working on a solution and both cars will be back on track tomorrow.”
Nato, Rowland, Barnard, Sam Bird, Vergne, Lucas di Grassi, and Sebastien Buemi also weren’t classified in the race simulation, although their failures to finish weren’t consequential – they opted to end their runs early in anticipation of resuming regular testing afterwards. All finishers were covered by 17.312s.
When the afternoon session resumed properly, it was largely slower as teams continued to conduct varying programs in preparation of the upcoming season. Nyck de Vries was quickest with a 1m28.101s, while de Vries’ time, set late in the day, was 0.41s quicker than Hughes’ morning best, but behind the rest of the morning’s pacesetters. His Mahindra teammate Edoardo Mortara was third, just 0.262s back, with Evans splitting the two.
Testing concludes on Friday with a final three-hour session in the morning, as well as another three-hour session in the afternoon reserved exclusively for female drivers. Friday will also be the first time this week that fans will be in attendance.
Morning session times
Afternoon session times
Race exercise results
