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Sport

Day two of Formula E testing postponed after garage fire

A small explosion, believed to be from a battery, took place in the pit box of battery supplier WAE (formerly known as Williams Advanced Engineering) just before 1pm local time on Tuesday. 

Team personnel were swiftly evacuated as the area was cordoned off at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo with Formula E confirming that the “on-track Incident Response Team acted immediately to contain the incident”. 

It added that "one person has been assessed by medics and has been transported to hospital for precautionary checks" but that the individual has since been “released without treatment”. 

The three-hour afternoon session on Tuesday was with the remainder of this week’s test put in doubt. 

Organisers of the all-electric championship confirmed on Tuesday evening that the two three-hour sessions originally scheduled for Wednesday would not be taking place. 

The proposed media day on Thursday has also been cancelled as a result of the knock-on effect of the incident. 

A statement from Formula E said: “In response to an incident earlier today at Formula E pre-season testing in Valencia when a fire caused damage to a garage in the pit lane, on-track testing activity will not go ahead tomorrow, Wednesday.  

Smoke from the pit lane causes an evacuation (Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Motorsport Images)

“Damage from the incident was contained following the activation of emergency procedures. One person was taken to hospital as a precaution but released without treatment.  

“An investigation into the cause of the incident is ongoing but has already identified an issue which Is being addressed. The investigation and further safety assessments will be completed, and we aim to resume on-track activities from Thursday, subject to final confirmation tomorrow.” 

Only one three-hour session has currently taken place, with Jaguar’s Mitch Evans fastest in Tuesday’s opening session from Porsche’s Antonio Felix da Costa

The planned running for Wednesday which potentially will take place on Thursday was set to include two race simulations that would incorporate fast-charging pitstops ahead of a possible introduction this season.

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