Successful testing for new race car

No kicking back and relaxing after a hugely successful 2016/2017 FIA Formula E Championship. No basking in the glory of taking home the title and no down time for the drivers, race engineers and principals behind the Team Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler.

Lucas di Grassi’s historic win the final round in Canada had barely been entered into the record books than the team were hard at work preparing for the new season – which sees Audi as the first German automotive manufacturer to throw its full support behind a team in the FIA Formula E championship. 

After the recent unveiling of the new Audi e-tron FE04 race cars at the company’s motorsport headquarters in Neuburg, the team was hard at work at the official pre-season track testing in Valencia, Spain – and the feedback after several days of demanding testing is overwhelmingly positive.

In hot conditions, Audi’s newest factory driver Daniel Abt and title defender Lucas di Grassi completed multiple laps in the team’s four race cars, focusing on race simulations and optimising the energy management of the new motor-generator unit (MGU) which now only has one forward gear. 

Despite of the heat, the four Audi e-tron FE04 ran with complete reliability over the three day program, that saw Daniel Abt and Lucas di Grassi complete a total of 474 laps on the three-kilometre Circuit Ricardo Tomo – a distance of 1466 kilometres, which is equal to the race distance of a whole Formula E season. 

“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,” said Team Principal Allan McNish, assessing the tests. “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.” 

From now until the season opens in Hong Kong on December 2 and 3 testing is prohibited in Formula E. The four Audi e-tron FE04 cars will be completely dismantled and reassembled once more at the team’s base in Kempten. In mid-November, they will be flown from England to Hong Kong, ready for the start of what already promises to be a captivating season.