Jorda, Calderon, De Silvestro & Visser amongst female names for Saudi Arabia test

Ad Diriyah ePrix – Female racers including Carmen Jorda, Simona De Silvestro & Tatiana Calderon have been named on the official entry list for Formula E’s in-season test next month.

With the new Formula E season beginning in December in Saudi Arabia’s Ad Diriyah ePrix, the first in-season test for the Gen2 cars has been scheduled to begin on the day after the race.

With Saudi Arabia currently on a big push to showcase the new laws which allow women to drive in the country for the first time in decades, an incentive was launched by Formula E to get more female racers to take part in the test. This has been achieved, with eight women named on the entry list so far.

Tatiana Calderon, who has just completed two days of testing with Sauber at Ferrari’s Fiorani circuit, will drive for DS Techeetah, The young racer from Colombia, who is currently P16 in the GP3 standings, said: “I’m incredibly eager to test the DS E-TENSE FE19 in December. Formula E is a really exciting space and it’s great to be able to get a sense of the series through the test. It’ll be the first time that I’ll drive a fully-electric racing car on track, so I’m curious to find out how I’ll have to adapt my driving style to drive the car in the most efficient way. I’m thrilled to be working with DS TECHEETAH following their successful results last season and I’m looking forward to helping them with their work at the first in-season test.”

Amna Al Qubaisi will be driving the Virgin car. Hailing from the United Arab Emirates, Al Qubaisi raced in Italian F4 in 2018, finishing P34 with Prema Powerteam: “I’m very proud to be representing women in general and Arabian women in particular. This test drive is another stepping-stone towards my dream of a professional career in motorsports and thanks to the continuous support of Kaspersky Lab, this dream will eventually come true.” 

Carmen Jorda, the former development driver with Lotus & Renault, has been named by Nissan as testing their car. Her most recent single seater experience was with Koiranen GP in GP3 in 2014, where she finished P29 in the standings.

Former British GT Champion & recent British F3 race winner Jamie Chadwick is the most luminescent of the female drivers taking part; she will drive for the NIO team. Former Red Bull junior Beitske Visser currently races in European GT4, winning two races in 2018. She’ll be at the wheel of the BMW Andretti during the test, while racing veteran and former IndyCar & Formula E driver Katherine Legge will drive for Mahindra.

RACE #            TEAM NAME                           SESSION 1                               SESSION 2

2                      Envision Virgin Racing             Robin Frijns (NLD)                   Sam Bird (GBR)

4                      Envision Virgin Racing              Amna Al Qubaisi (UAE)           Amna Al Qubaisi (UAE)

5                     HWA RACELAB                        TBC                                          Stoffel Vandoorne (BEL)

6                     GEOX DRAGON                       TBC                                          TBC

7                     GEOX DRAGON                       Jose Maria Lopez (ARG)          Max Gunther (DEU)

8                      NIO Formula E Team               Jamie Chadwick (GBR)            Jamie Chadwick (GBR)

16                    NIO Formula E Team               Oliver Turvey (GBR)                Oliver Turvey (GBR)

Tom Dillmann (FRA)                Tom Dillmann (FRA)

17                    HWA RACELAB                        Gary Paffett (GBR)                  TBC

19                    VENTURI Formula E Team      Simona de Silvestro (CHE)      Simona de Silvestro (CHE)

20                    Panasonic Jaguar Racing         Mitch Evans (NZL)                   Mitch Evans (NZL)

22                    Nissan e.dams                        Carmen Jorda (ESP)                Carmen Jorda (ESP)

Alex Albon (THA)                    Alex Albon (THA)

23                    Nissan e.dams                         Sebastien Buemi (CHE)           Sebastien Buemi (CHE)

Alex Albon (THA)                    Alex Albon (THA)

25                    DS TECHEETAH                         Tatiana Calderon (COL)           Jean-Eric Vergne (FRA)

27                    BMW i ANDRETTI MOTORSPORT    Alexander Sims (GBR)             Alexander Sims (GBR)

28                    BMW i ANDRETTI MOTORSPORT    Beitske Visser (NLD)                Beitske Visser (NLD)

36                    DS TECHEETAH                        Andre Lotterer (DEU)              Tatiana Calderon (COL)

48                   VENTURI Formula E Team           Felipe Massa (BRA)                 Edoardo Mortara (CHE)

64                   MAHINDRA RACING                Jerome D’Ambrosio (BEL)       Jerome D’Ambrosio (BEL)

66      Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler                       Nico Muller (CHE)                   Nico Muller (CHE)

94                    MAHINDRA RACING                Katherine Legge (GBR)            Katherine Legge (GBR)