Chloe Chambers tops timesheets in Formula E’s women’s test
- JODIE SAXON
- 39 minutes ago
- 4 min read
American racer and F1 Academy star Chloe Chambers has topped the timesheets in both sessions of the second edition of the FIA Formula E Women’s Test at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo.
American racer and F1 Academy star Chloe Chambers has topped the timesheets in both sessions of the women’s test at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo.
This was Chambers’ second outing in the all-electric Gen3Evo car after making her debut at least year’s edition of the test for Andretti, where she was 15th out of 17 drivers. This year, however, Chambers switched to Mahindra Racing for the test session which was doubled in length in order to provide the selected female drivers with more track time.
Mahindra Racing already had a strong showing in Valencia with full-time driver Edoardo Mortara topping pre-season testing overall with a lap time of 1:21.493. Chambers set a 1:22.767, a strong showing for a driver who has spent a total of nine hours in the car compared to the hundreds of hours clocked up by the full-time competitors.
Nissan’s Abbi Pulling wasn’t far behind the American’s time, with a gap of just 0.064s separating the two. Pulling topped the 2024 edition of the test and earned a role as Nissan’s rookie and simulator driver as a result, and had her second outing for the team at the Berlin rookie test in July.
Bianca Bustamante was once again behind the wheel of the yellow and copper coloured Cupra Kiro car after switching to the team from McLaren during season 11, the Filipina driver was 3rd in last year’s women’s test and repeated that result this year.
The Envision Racing duo of Alice Powell – one of Formula E’s most experienced women – and Ella Lloyd rounded out the top five overall.
The Morning Session
Jamie Chadwick of Jaguar Racing lay an early claim to the top of the timesheets during the morning session, briefly losing out to Marta García in her yellow and blue Lola-Yamaha and Gabriela Jílková in her Porsche before reclaiming the position.
Chadwick has the most experience in the Gen3Evo car, having taken part in three tests and a handful of demo runs last season, so it was no surprise that the ELMS race winner was quick to set the pace.
Tatiana Calderón is another driver with plenty of Formula E experience, having tested for Maserati, Lola and DS Techeetah previously, but her first outing for Citroën Racing got off to a rocky start with two trips to the gravel in the morning session. Despite this, she was able to recover and set the 7th fastest time in the session.
Mentor and mentee made the leap to the top of the timing sheets halfway through the session, with Alice Powell taking 1st while Pulling slotted in just behind her. Not one to be outdone, Chadwick then became the first driver to dip into the 1:23s in the session and leapt to the top of the timing sheets with Pulling and Chambers soon joining her to make the top three.
11 of the 14 drivers had prior Formula E experience, with the trio lacking that experience struggling in the early stages of the session. DS Penske’s Lindsay Brewer was unable to set a lap at 350kW but her single-seater experience put her ahead of Porsche’s Janina Schall, who initially struggled with the transition from sportscars to Formula E and was just over eight seconds off in the morning.
The third newcomer, Super Formula driver Juju Noda, was classified 10th.
The Afternoon Session
There was more disruption in the afternoon session when Alice Powell’s Envision Racing car suffered a battery issue that caused her brakes to fail and saw her take a trip to the gravel. The red flag did not last long, however, and soon the remaining 13 drivers were allowed back on track for their final few hours of Formula E testing.
Most of the drivers used this time to settle into the car and work on longer runs, helping collect vital data for the teams, rather than chasing blistering laptimes, but up ahead it was another battle between Chambers and Pulling as they dipped into the 1:22s and closed the gap to the regular drivers.
Powell was able to return to the track towards the end of the session and put her car in 4th, a strong outing despite the curtailed running, while once again it was Chambers 1st with Pulling in 2nd and Bustamante in 3rd.
Home heroes Nerea Marti (Andretti) and Marta Garcia (Lola-Yamaha) also had solid outings. Marti reprised her role with Andretti while Garcia switched from Porsche to Lola-Yamaha for the event. The Spanish duo were classified 8th and 10th overall and both had moments where they held the fastest laps at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo.
Formula E’s second women’s test provided 14 women with six hours of vital experience in world championship machinery, and it should not be the last time this season they get track time as there will be two rookie events during season 12 – the rookie free practice in Miami and the full day rookie test in Madrid.
“Today overall was a very positive day. I made a lot of improvements from last year in terms of my driving and driving to what’s needed from the car to go fast", Chambers commented. "We worked a lot on one lap pace, I was having to improve my driving every time and it was definitely a good test overall and I really enjoyed working with the team.”
The full women’s test results are as follows:
1 | Chloe Chambers | Mahindra Racing | 1:22.767 | |
2 | Abbi Pulling | Nissan Formula E | 1:22.831 | +0.064 |
3 | Bianca Bustamante | Cupra Kiro | 1:23.537 | +0.770 |
4 | Alice Powell | Envision Racing | 1:23.657 | +0.890 |
5 | Ella Lloyd | Envision Racing | 1:23.676 | +0.909 |
6 | Jamie Chadwick | Jaguar Racing | 1:23.692 | +0.925 |
7 | Tatiana Calderon | Citroën Racing | 1:23.838 | +1.071 |
8 | Nerea Martí | Andretti Formula E | 1:24.428 | +1.661 |
9 | Juju Noda | Jaguar Racing | 1:24.442 | +1.675 |
10 | Marta García | Lola Yamaha | 1:24.615 | +1.848 |
11 | Gabriela Jílková | Porsche Formula E | 1:25.986 | +3.219 |
12 | Jessica Edgar | DS Penske | 1:26.060 | +3.293 |
13 | Janina Schall | Porsche Formula E | 1:28.854 | +6.087 |
14 | Lindsay Brewer | DS Penske | 1:28.919 | +6.152 |
