The electrification of motorsport has begun – E.dams-Renault’s Sebastien Buemi today set the fastest time during the inaugural official test for the new FIA Formula E Championship at Donington Park.

The first of five public tests took place at the British circuit in dry, bright conditions with all 10 teams and drivers using the full Donington Park GP circuit – modified to include an additional chicane at the exit to the Old Hairpin.

Being the first outing for many of the drivers, the day focused on getting to grips with the Spark-Renault SRT_01E cars with German driver Daniel Abt, driving for Audi Sport Abt, laying down the early benchmark for the morning session.

Times began to tumble in the afternoon session with ex-F1 driver and Toyota sportscar ace Buemi on the pace, posting a 1:35.475s with under an hour to go and holding on to the top spot until the end of the day. Abt’s Lucas di Grassi (also an Audi FIA WEC pilot) finished over a half a second shy of the Swiss despite only running during the afternoon session with Virgin Racing’s Sam Bird a further three-tenths back in third.

Mahindra Racing’s Bruno Senna ran well all day to finish fourth with Venturi’s new signing – Toyota FIA WEC driver Stephane Sarrazin rounding out the top-five during his first outing in a fully-electric single-seater.

Nicolas Prost (e.dams-Renault), son of four-time Formula One World Champion Alain, finished sixth to edge out Jarno Trulli with Virgin Racing’s Jaime Alguersuari and Mahindra Racing’s Karun Chandhok completing the top-10.

The day also saw outings for several of the championship’s new signings including Amlin Aguri duo Katherine Legge and Antonio Felix da Costa, Venturi’s Nick Heidfeld, Trulli’s Michela Cerruti and Dragon Racing’s Mike Conway.

Former F1 racer Jerome d’Ambrosio and Corvette Racing’s Antonio Garcia (the winner of the past three TUDOR United SportsCar Championship GT LM races with Jan Magnussen) tested for China Racing with Scott Speed making his test debut for Andretti – sharing the car with IndyCar legend, Formula E ambassador and ex-ALMS team owner/driver, Gil de Ferran (pictured right).

“I’m more than happy to be honest. I didn’t have any problems with the car at all and that meant we were able to learn quite a lot about it. It’s always nice to be P1 so let’s hope it continues tomorrow,” Buemi said.

Day two of testing gets underway tomorrow at 9am with free access to fans, including a pitlane walk.

For more information visit www.fiaformulae.com

FIA Formula E Championship – Day 1, Donington Park – Test results (Combined times):

1. Sebastien Buemi, e.dams-Renault, 1:35.475
2. Lucas di Grassi, Audi Sport ABT, +0.537
3. Sam Bird, Virgin Racing, +0.895
4. Bruno Senna, Mahindra Racing, +0.910
5. Stephane Sarrazin, Venturi, +1.223
6. Nicolas Prost, e.dams-Renault, +1.232
7. Jarno Trulli, Trulli, +1.494
8. Daniel Abt, Audi Sport ABT, +1.737
9. Jaime Alguersuari, Virgin Racing, +1.970
10. Karun Chandhok, Mahindra Racing, +2.057
11. Franck Montagny, Andretti Autosport, +2.587
12. Antonio Felix da Costa, Amlin Aguri, +2.604
13. Jerome d’Ambrosio, China Racing, +2.611
14. Antonio Garcia, China Racing, +2.729
15. Nick Heidfeld, Venturi, +5.269
16. Mike Conway, Dragon Racing, +5.693
17. Gil de Ferran, Andretti Autosport, +9.497
18. Scott Speed, Andretti Autosport, +10.434
19. Katherine Legge, Amlin Aguri, +12.821
20. Michela Cerruti, Trulli, [No official time set]