McNish delighted with Audi Formula E testposted in FE06 | 10 | 2017

    SCOT ALLAN McNISH, team principal of Audi’s new factory all-electric Formula E Team, was delighted after overseeing his four race cars complete 910 miles over three days of pre-season testing. The mileage equates to the race distance of a whole Formula E season. (Related: McNish leads Audi Formula E team)

    The 47-year-old from Dumfries, and three-times Le Mans 24-Hours winner, is overseeing Audi’s first-ever works’ single-seater race programme.

    The new Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler team completed the largest number of test miles of all 10 teams over the test at Valencia, in Spain.

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    In searingly high temperatures, title defender Lucas di Grassi (Brazil) and team-mate Daniel Abt (Germany) reeled off an extensive test program with the four Audi e-tron FE04 race cars.

    “Daniel and Lucas felt comfortable in the car right from the beginning and confirmed to me that we’ve done good development work and made a big step forwards with the new powertrain,” McNish said.

    “Even though we’re only going to see where we really stand at the season opener in Hong Kong and still have a lot of work to do until then, we can be very happy with the test in Valencia.

    “The Audi e-tron FE04 is reliable and fast. Now we need to continue to optimise energy management and the software on the test bench and in the simulator.”

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    The encouraging results of the three days of running was also acknowledged by reigning Formula E champ di Grassi.

    “It’s been a positive test,” he agreed. “I believe our new car is very competitive. Audi, ABT and Schaeffler have done a good job.

    “We made optimal use of the three test days in order to put ourselves in a good position for the season opener in Hong Kong. The top times were very close together, and I’m expecting a thrilling season.”

    And Audi team-mate Abt admitted he can’t wait for the 2017/18 Formula E season to get underway in Honk Kong.

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    “The test at Valencia went smoothly,” Abt said. “There was a lot to learn with the new software and other things, but we made good progress on these three days, especially on the last day.

    “The car is running superbly and is fast. I can hardly wait to tackle my first two races as an Audi factory driver in Hong Kong.”

    From now on until the season opens in Hong Kong on December 2-3 testing is prohibited in Formula E. The four Audi e-tron FE04 cars will be completely dismantled and reassembled before being flown mid-November from England to Hong Kong. 

    Related: Watch our video of the new Audi Formula E racer

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    Jim McGill

     

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