Nissan Officially Kicks Off Its Formula E Effort At Valencia

Nissan may have shut down its short-lived LMP1 program, but now it’s back on the racing grid – albeit a different one.

The Japanese automaker is one of the new manufacturers entering the FIA Formula E Championship this year, taking over from sister company Renault that won the teams’ championship the first three years running and the drivers’ title in the second season with Sebastien Buemi.

Buemi will race again this season as Nissan has retained his services. An obvious choice, considering that he previously drove three season in Formula One for Scuderia Toro Rosso and has won both the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the FIA World Endurance Championship with Toyota.

Now he’ll be driving the Gen 2 electric single-seater for the rechristened Nissan e.dams team, which he drove for the first time during the first pre-season test session at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia.

“We had a lot of things to test, and it was our first time to see where we stand compared to the rest of the competition,” said Buemi. “I’m pleased with the performance because I know we could have ended up a lot better. I’m not massively happy with P8, but I know we had quite a bit of margin and that is the most important thing. I feel we can compete with the top guys.”

“We’ve been working on our Formula E program for quite some time, and it was a thrill for everyone at Nissan to finally see our cars on track,” added Nissan motorsport director Michael Carcamo. “We’re looking forward to getting back on track tomorrow and recording more valuable development miles.”