FE: Techeetah gets Renault powertrain

The Techeetah Formula E team will use a Renault powertrain in the 2016-'17 season.

Chinese company SECA Worldwide took over the FE entry formerly held by Team Aguri at the end of the 2015-'16 season, and will run Jean-Eric Vergne and Ma Qing Hua in the coming campaign.

Techeetah racked up its first serious mileage on the opening day of the inaugural pre-season test at Donington Park on Tuesday, having completed a shakedown last week. Mark Preston, who has stayed on as team principal of Techeetah after co-founding the Aguri team, confirmed it is using Renault's Z.E.16 powertrain. The French manufacturer supplied the motor, gearbox and inverter to the team earlier this month.

"It's the first running we've done," Preston said. "There was a prolonged period of discussion [over the Renault customer deal]. They won't tell us how to make it go fast, but they'll make sure we're OK and running reliably."

Ma managed 39 laps on its first day with the Z.E.16 despite suffering minor mechanical issues in the afternoon. He clocked the 14th-fastest time, but was set to make a huge improvement on a late flying lap before his pace dropped significantly in the final sector.

Vergne took over from Ma on Wednesday morning, and ended the first three-hour session quickest, with a new lap record of 1m29.634s.

As Techeetah is not a manufacturer it was not allowed to undertake any private testing prior to the Donington tests beginning, but the team will be free to develop its own wheels, software and dampers.

Originally on Autosport.com