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

Thomas Maher 20th November 2018

2 minutes read

Jorda Formula E — Craig Boon/Octane Photographic Ltd.

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)