Jamie Chadwick excited about Formula E test with NIO as 2019 grid nears completion

As the sun set on another exciting F1 season in Abu Dhabi last weekend, so the 2018/19 Formula E season soon kicks into action with the opening race of the season in Ad Diriyah, Saudi Arabia, on December 15.

It has also been announced that Formula E will host an in-season test after the Ad Diriyah ePrix, with the driver line-ups announced.

Most significantly, teams that run female drivers in addition to their regular drivers, have also been handed places at the test that runs the day after the first ePrix of the season.

For Acronis partner team NIO, Jamie Chadwick, who won the 2015 British GT4 championship, joins regular drivers Oliver Turvey and Tom Dillmann at the circuit with teams entering female drivers allowed two cars during the session.

“I think firstly it’s a fantastic opportunity for all drivers to be able to get out in Saudi Arabia but for me to be able to do it with NIO is great and I had a cool opportunity to go out to Valencia with them and meet the team and from what I’ve seen they’re a fantastic group of people so yeah, really excited about it.

“It’s my first experience of electric racing so that’s going to be something different in itself but yeah, from what I’ve seen the car looks great and I’m excited to get out there.”

.@JamieChadwick55 talks challenges and her excitement for testing with the NIO Formula E Team in Riyadh. https://t.co/v3Bb9QhIia #borntopushlimits pic.twitter.com/CfEq46wEwS

— NIO (@NIOGlobal) November 20, 2018

.@JamieChadwick55 continues her preparation with the team in Spain at the @CircuitCalafat ahead of the upcoming test in Saudi Arabia. Time to integrate with the engineers and familiarise herself with our Season 4 race car. Despite the windy conditions, Jamie is doing a great job. pic.twitter.com/GRQOeIx65t

— NIO (@NIOGlobal) November 28, 2018

Simona de Silvestro, Carmen Jorda, Tatiana Calderon and Katherine Legge will also take part in the test, with the completed line-up as follows:

Team	Session 1	Session 2
Virgin Racing	Robin Frijns	Sam Bird
	Amna Al Qubaisi	Amna Al Qubaisi
HWA	TBC	Stoffel Vandoorne
	Gary Paffett	TBC
Dragon	TBC	TBC
	Jose Maria Lopez	Max Gunther
NIO	Jamie Chadwick	Jamie Chadwick
	Oliver Turvey/Tom Dillmann	Oliver Turvey/Tom Dillmann
Venturi	Simona de Silvestro	Simona de Silvestro
	Felipe Massa	Edoardo Mortara
Jaguar Racing	Mitch Evans	Mitch Evans
Nissan e.dams	Carmen Jorda	Carmen Jorda
	Alex Albon/Sebastien Buemi	Alex Albon/Sebastien Buemi
DS Techeetah	Tatiana Calderon	Jean-Eric Vergne
	Andre Lotterer	Tatiana Calderon
BMW Andretti	Alexander Sims	Alexander Sims
	Beitske Visser	Beitske Visser
Mahindra Racing	Jerome D’Ambrosio	Jerome D’Ambrosio
	Katherine Legge	Katherine Legge
Audi	Nico Muller	Nico Muller

Formula E entry list for the 2018/19 seasion

The Formula E entry list for the 2018/19 season is close to being finalised, with Alexander Albon (provisionally named as a Nissan e.dams driver) being confirmed as a Toro Rosso Formula One driver since the date of writing.

Mahindra Racing have also named Felix Rosenqvist on the list, although he will be replaced by Pascal Wehrlein for the second round in Marrakech.

Although teams had to submit their entry lists with drivers ‘eLicences’ in late October, they still have until two weeks before the opening race to name their starting drivers.

Entry list as follows:

Audi:	Lucas di Grassi, Daniel Abt
DS Techeetah:	Jean-Eric Vergne, Andre Lotterer
Virgin Racing:	Sam Bird, Robin Frijns
Mahindra Racing:	Jerome D’Ambrosio, Felix Rosenqvist (replaced by Wehrlein in Marrakech)
Nissan e.dams:	Sebastien Buemi, Alexander Albon
Jaguar:	Mitch Evans, Nelson Piquet Jr
Venturi:	Felipe Massa, Edoardo Mortara
NIO:	Oliver Turvey, Tom Dillmann
Dragon:	Jose Maria Lopez, Maximilian Gunther
BMW Andretti:	Antonio Felix da Costa, Alexander Sims
HWA:	Gary Paffett, Stoffel Vandoorne