The Berlin Rookie Test provided the first chance for the team's Reserve Driver to make an official outing in the M9Electro, after joining Mahindra Racing at the start of the season. The Indian found himself inside the top six runners at that day-long two-session test.
He shadowed the team’s 2023 drivers Lucas Di Grassi and Oliver Rowland in Diriyah, Hyderabad, Berlin and Portland earlier this year and the 24-year-old racer has impressed in recent years competing in FIA Formula 2, scoring multiple wins and podiums, most recently achieving two third-placed finishes during the Saudi Arabia Grand Prix weekend.
“I’m very grateful for the opportunity to drive for the team in Rome," says Daruvala. "We had a very successful test last time out in Berlin, so I’m looking forward to more of the same in Rome.”
"To have Jehan with us in Rome only strengthens our team and gives us the best chance of receiving positive feedback from all our drivers heading into the Rome race weekend," says Team Principal Fred Bertrand. "I am looking forward to the final two events and then moving our focus to Season 10.”
Rookie Free Practice
Teams can field someone who's sampled Formula E machinery before, but they must not be drivers included on the Season 9 Entry List, and they must not have competed in a Formula E race in their career before. The idea is to give the best young talent a pathway to race at the very top of the motorsport ladder with a taste of Formula E and the opportunity to impress prospective teams in the world's leading electric race series.
READ MORE: Rookies set for Rome outing
The choices the teams have put forward to Formula E and the FIA will be revealed in the lead up to Rome.
Felipe Drugovich has already been confirmed at Maserati MSG Racing. The young Brazilian, who topped the timesheets during the Berlin Rookie Test earlier this year, will now get a second chance to impress during Rome’s Rookie Free Practice session. The opportunity, which is exclusively for rookie drivers, will see some of motorsport’s brightest talents navigate the iconic Italian street circuit and find their feet in the electric machinery.
Avalanche Andretti, meanwhile, have confirmed that Zane Maloney will once again get behind the wheel of their GEN3 car.
NEOM McLaren confirmed Charlie Eastwood for their seat in Rome.