FE: Buemi puts Renault on top in final test

Formula E champion Sebastien Buemi signed off the final official pre-season test before the 2016-'17 opener in Hong Kong with a new lap record at Donington Park. The Renault e.dams driver engaged in a morning battle for fastest lap with Jean-Eric Vergne, who is driving for Renault customer team Techeetah.

Vergne was first to lower the lap record he set on Tuesday, narrowly dipping under that benchmark with a 1m29.109s. But Buemi became the first driver to post a sub-1m29s lap of Donington in his works Renault Z.E.16, clocking a 1m28.910s. That time stood as the best despite a late flurry of qualifying simulations at the end of the day, which ended with Buemi topping the afternoon session on a 1m29.002s.

Nicolas Prost made it a Renault e.dams one-two in the afternoon, lapping two tenths slower than his teammate, while Vergne should have improved late on but made an error. That consigned him to a 1m29.296s in the afternoon, which he ended fourth fastest, 0.014s slower than DS Virgin Racing's Sam Bird.

Abt Audi Sport driver Lucas di Grassi was in the mid-1m29s in the afternoon and would have been in the mix to improve further but went off into the gravel while on a personal best. The ensuing red flag ended his team's record of being the only outfit not to cause a stoppage across the six days of testing.

In the afternoon session the top 13 runners, comprising eight teams, were covered by less than a second – with Jaguar and Venturi the outliers.

Mitch Evans did post the British manufacturer's best lap of testing on a 1m30.061s, less than a tenth quicker than Stephane Sarrazin's best for Venturi.

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AFTERNOON TIMES:

Originally on Autosport.com