As Gen3 electric cars reach the end of their life, The Gen3 Evo took to the track. More powerful, more technological and equipped with new tires, these are new machines with which the teams will put on a show and try to win.
Given the dramatic weather conditions that affected Valencia a few days ago, the tests took place in the .
“It’s a very nice place, it reminds me of Mugello,” said the boss of DS Performance, Eugenio Franzettiwho heads the competition department of DS Automobiles which designs electric cars for DS Penske. “However, what matters is its ability to accommodate Formula E cars. Valencia and Jarama are permanent circuits, less typical of Formula E, but that does not stop us from working, and the championship organizers have did an amazing job of reorganizing the tests in such a short time.
“This week, the most important thing for everyone is to be able to test as many things as possible before Friday afternoon. Then the cars will leave for Brazil, and we won't see them again until we get there at the beginning of December. ” he continued.
DS Penske identified three key points that could influence the results
By having more powerful cars with four-wheel drive, these tests were more important because they represented the only opportunity to see all the teams together on the track, to simulate a race, and for each of them to begin to gauge the performance level of other competitors.
“This season there are three very important points to take into account,” he commented. “First of all, the new tires are softer and offer performances that we have not seen until now. We will have to understand how to make them work and, above all, exploit their qualities at the right time”, especially in qualifications.
“The second key point is the attack mode. Between 300 kW and 350 kW, especially with four-wheel drive as is the case this season, there is a gain of two seconds per lap, that's a lot , up to four times more than last season,” he said. “Finally, the last key point will be the number of cars per manufacturer. This season, Porsche will have six cars entered. [dos ‘de fábrica’, dos Andretti y dos Kiro]so there will still be two top competitors, but we will do everything possible to be in front, last year we fought well, and this year we prepared even better.
As of this writing, the third practice session has just concluded with the two Penske DSs in first and third position, and the two e-engined Kiros, Porsches in second and fourth place. Does this mean a dominant season is coming?
“It's always better to be in front, but you shouldn't trust this type of ranking,” explained Eugenio Franzetti. “The pre-season tests are to test things for the campaign, we will have to wait until Sao Paulo or Mexico to start seeing signs of dominance. For now we are happy with our drivers and our cars, the reliability is there, and the lap times allow us to see things, but to see the real performance of each, we will have to wait a little longer.”
In the meantime, Jean-Éric Vergne And Maximilian Guntherthe two DS Penske regulars, will complete as many laps as possible at a good pace at the wheel of their DS E-TENSE FE25 on the Jarama circuit. Then, on Friday afternoon, the cars will be dismantled and shipped to Sao Paulo, where the first tests of the season will take place on December 7.
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