The Mahindra Racing Formula E team completed one final pre-season test yesterday, ahead of the inaugural race of the FIA Formula E Championship which will take place in Beijing next month. Karun Chandhok and Bruno Senna both completed several test programmes and two separate race simulations as their familiarisation with the new Formula E car comes to an end.

Following pre-testing briefings with their engineers, both Chandhok and Senna had complex test plans to get through, as the Formula E cars completed their final miles on track before being shipped to Beijing. Both Mahindra Racing men were inside the top ten during the first general session yesterday morning which took place on a dry track in chilly conditions at the Donington circuit in the UK.

Following the first general test session of the day the drivers were split into two groups, to complete two separate race simulations. Senna was up first, taking to the track in his first car to complete a full run before heading into the pits to practice a live car change. The Brazilian was back out on track a minute later to complete a run in his second car.

With Senna back in the garage to debrief with his engineers, it was Chandhok’s turn, the Indian racer completing the same process as Senna. As part of the full car pit stop, each driver must spend at least one minute in the garage. Chandhok also made the change to his second car.

The afternoon sessions were a repeat of the morning, with both drivers taking part in a general test before one final race simulation. Out first again, Senna spent his last session concentrating on regeneration, with the focus on maintaining battery life rather than lap times. Chandhok meanwhile had a number of final setup changes to test before the flag fell on the final Donington test of the year.

Team Principal Dilbagh Gill said, “This was a successful final test for the team, we head to Beijing in good shape. Both drivers gathered a lot of data and we learnt even more on the characteristics of the battery and regeneration, while also working on the traditional mechanical setup of the car. We can be proud of the effort that has gone in to our preparations so far and now we look forward to the first race more than ever.”

Mahindra Racing driver Chandhok said, “It’s been a good test for us, I think probably the best one so far for us as a team. We’ve made a whole bunch of changes, we’ve learnt a lot of things and both cars were pretty similar on pace, despite running different test programmes. The car has been really reliable as well which is a good sign before the first race weekend.  We’ve got three or four weeks now before Beijing which will give the engineers plenty of time to go through the final data we’ve gathered.”

Team mate Senna added, “It was a very interesting day for us; we found some interesting things with the setup.  We’re very excited to see what Beijing will bring; it’s a very difficult circuit to here at Donington. We can’t wait for the racing to get underway when we will hopefully be as competitive as we were today, if not even better.”

Chandhok and Senna will next take to the track for the first race of the season on 13th September at a specially built street circuit in Beijing, China.