Formula E reportedly loses Lucas di Grassi as development driver

Lucas di Grassi has left his test driver post with the FIA Formula E organization, so that he can be a driver with one of the teams. The issue is that FIA rules don’t allow a series test driver to also be a participant in the series, and therefore to be in the series he has to join one of the teams.

According to a report on Thursday on German news site, Motorsport-Total, di Grassi is thought to be planning to race with the Audi Sport ABT Formula E team, because of his existing connections with Audi through Le Mans racing.

This leaves an opening at Formula E for a test driver. According to CurrentE, the Formula E office didn’t confirm di Grassi’s departure, but did confirm the rules quandary that would force di Grassi to leave.

Apparently, “The Stig” (Ben Collins) has said he’s going to join Formula E racing – as a development driver

Delighted to sign with @FIAformulaE development program & ready to unleash high voltage! @autosportnews @vwmotorsport @ST_Driving #electric
— Ben Collins / Stig (@BenCollinsStig) December 12, 2013

@Current_E @ofux1 @FIAformulaE no premature annunciation – but more official info to follow!
— Ben Collins / Stig (@BenCollinsStig) December 13, 2013

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About David Herron

David Herron is a writer and software engineer living in Silicon Valley. He primarily writes about electric vehicles, clean energy systems, climate change, peak oil and related issues. When not writing he indulges in software projects and is sometimes employed as a software engineer. David has written for sites like PlugInCars and TorqueNews, and worked for companies like Sun Microsystems and Yahoo.