BMW fastest again with da Costa toping the timesheets

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BMW fastest again with da Costa toping the timesheets

Antonio Felix da Costa is fastest and Attack Mode trialled on day two in Valencia

BMW fastest again with da Costa toping the timesheets

Clear conditions in Valencia made for the fastest times of pre-season testing so far, with BMW i Andretti Motorsport's Antonio Felix da Costa posting the best time of the day with a 1:16.977s lap. Following on from Rookie BMW driver Alex Sims' fastest lap on day one (1:17.553s), the BMW dominance at testing continues."Alex is good - he’s quick! ...he’ll be a pain in the ass!" said da Costa with a smile.

With the day broken into three sessions, the mid-afternoon saw all teams take the opportunity to test the cars and systems in a race environment, over a 45-minute period. With the trail of Attack Mode - a new higher power setting gained by passing through a predetermined section of track, off the racing line - taking place for the first time, the new Gen2 cars made around the Circuit Ricardo Tormo with some cars sporting illuminated halo devices. After the 45-minute session, there time for a 30-minute testing session in the late afternoon.

With less than a second separating the top 12 cars in both the morning and late afternoon sessions, it was DS Techeetah and reigning champion Jean-Eric Vergne who clocked the second fastest time of the day, with a 1:17.342 lap in the afternoon.

"I don't want to be the champion of Valencia - there's no point for me," said JEV confidently.

"The key to Valencia is to make sure all the systems are working before we arrive in Saudi Arabia. We don't focus on one lap performance."

Close behind JEV was Mahindra Racing's Jerome d'Ambrosio with the third fastest time (1:17.431). Following four years with all-American outfit Dragon, d'Ambrosio switched to Mahindra for the 2018/19 season, alongside Formula E newcomer Pascal Wehrlein.

Experiencing trouble on track in the morning was BMW's Alex Sims who, after a stellar performance yesterday setting the fastest times in both sessions, came into the garage in the final hour of the morning after clipping the chicane and damaging the front of his car.

Further trouble came about after HWA's Rookie driver Stoffel Vandoorne stopped on track due to technical difficulties, bringing out the red flag again before NIO Formula E Team's Tom Dillmann stopped on track shortly after.

Following the 45-minute session, the drivers headed back out for another chance to test the cars before the final sessions on Friday. After that, it's off to Saudi Arabia for the 2018 SAUDIA Ad Diriyah E-Prix where all 11 teams and 22 cars and drivers will line up for the first round of the 2018/19 season. Keep it locked in for all the action.