It feels like it was just yesterday when we were watching the Rome ePrix. For rounds five and six of the FIA Formula E World Championship, we visit Valencia and this time, the break has been shorter in between races.
We had to wait a total of six weeks in between the double headers of the Diriyah ePrix and the Rome ePrix but this time round, we’ve only had to wait two weeks for some more on track action.
The Valencia ePrix will be the first time Formula E has raced on a circuit, making its debut at the 3.37km Circuit Ricardo Tormo, situated on the Gulf of Valencia.
The drivers will already be familiar with the track due to pre-season testing being held there, however the track was slightly different, as a chicane has been added for the two races this weekend.
The track record belongs to Maximilian Guenther with a time of 1:11.760.
Good Time
Alex Lynn had good time at the track when pre-season testing was held over the 28th to the 30th November 2020.
He topped the leader board on the second day with a time of 1:11.941, just two tenths of a second shy of the time Guenther set on day three. Hopefully, that shows signs that this track is going to be a good one for his M7Electro Mahindra.
Promising Signs
Lynn hasn’t had the easiest of rides in his return back to Formula E. In the opening four races, he’s been involved in two crashes, one dubbed one of the worst seen in Formula E history and the other, gaining him a race-ruining penalty.
However, his qualifying performances in Diriyah showed promising signs for the Goodmayes based driver.
In qualifying for the first race, Lynn got his car through to super pole and started in an impressive fifth. However, his race came to a premature end when he collied with Sam Bird, causing both cars to entwine at the nose and forcing both to retire.
In race two, Lynn qualified as high as ninth but was relegated to 12th due to his involvement in the incident with Bird.
His race wasn’t going well and came to a stop when clipped Mitch Evans car. He landed upside down and skidded along the track before coming to a halt. The crash wasn’t shown on TV, but footage of the accident was shown on social media once it was confirmed Lynn was ok.
Taken Away By A Technicality
Going into the Rome double-header, Lynn was gunning for points, which he succeeded at in the first race of the weekend. Lynn qualified in a disappointing 13th but climbed his way up into the points, crossing the line to finish eighth.
He was also on to get points in the second race of the weekend, but a Formula E technicality took that away from him.
Towards the end of the race, a safety car was brought out due to a shunt for Rene Rast.
At the time, Lynn still had one of his attack modes left.
Once racing resumed, there wasn’t enough time for Lynn to use his final attack mode so even though he crossed the line in ninth, he was relegated to 17th, given a 30-second time penalty for his infringement.
This is because all drivers must use their two attack modes in each race.
His teammate Alexander Sims was able to get his car on the podium with a second-place finish, Mahindra’s first podium since the 2019 Santiago ePrix.
‘We Need To Maximise It’
Lynn will be hoping he can repeat the joy of a podium that Sims had in Rome.
Despite not having the greatest of starts, his pre-season testing times show that Lynn has the power to get a good haul of points at Valencia.
Lynn has the experience, like most of the drivers have, of racing on a permanent circuit through different racing series. He’s looking forward to the challenge the circuit will bring for the Formula E cars, but thinks Mahindra has a great set up going into the weekend.
“I’m excited about Valencia. It’s totally different to what Formula E has done before and I believe this is the first track this season that you’ll see that, if you haven’t got a good car, it will be difficult for you to do well.
“For us this race is going to be about putting the whole day together. I think the track could suit us nicely and we’ve been working a lot on efficiency so this race is going to be about putting the whole day together. We know we have strong race pace, we have an efficient car and now we need to maximise it.
