Turvey tops final FE preseason test
Oliver Turvey set a new course record around the adapted Valencia circuit, topping the times in the final Formula E pre-season test ahead of the first race of the year.
The NIO Formula E Team driver set his 1m21.822s lap in the morning session, a tenth of a second quicker than Daniel Abt in second. Turvey switched to longer runs in the afternoon, and was bottom of the time sheets, but nobody could get close to his morning time.
Abt was the only other driver to set a time quicker than 1m22s on the final of three days testing at the Spanish track. Jean-Eric Vergne was third fastest overall, more than two tenths of a second slower than Turvey in the morning session, followed by Felix Rosenqvist.
Eduardo Mortara and Vergne both brought out red flags in the morning session before Alex Lynn and Andre Lotterer caused stoppages in the afternoon. Lotterer beached his Techeetah in the gravel with less than 15 minutes before the end of the session, prompting organisers to extend the session by five minutes.
A late flurry of fast laps ended with Jerome D’Ambrosio top of the order.
Half an hour before the end of the session, Sebastien Buemi had picked up the pace to set a time nearly a second faster than the Dragon Racing driver. D’Ambrosio went faster just before Lotterer’s red flag, setting a lap time of 1m22.252s. It was four tenths of a second slower than Turvey had managed before lunch and put him sixth overall, just a hundreth of a second slower than Buemi’s time from the morning.