Mahindra Formula E racer Nick Heidfeld debuted the team’s new M4Electro at the Goodwood Festival of Speed and set a new electric record.
The ex-F1 driver holds the outright Goodwood hillclimb record of 41.6 seconds after his run back in 1999 in a McLaren MP4/13.
On Sunday at Goodwood, he set a second record, this time for the fastest single-seater electric run up the 1.16-mile course.
Heidfeld’s best time in the M4Electro was a 48.59s, which was fifth fastest overall and is the quickest open-wheel car up the hillclimb.
During the weekend, the German shaved eight seconds off his time and ended up just 1.2s off the outright electric record – set in 2013 by a Lola-Drayson B12 69/EV.
Goodwood marked the public debut of Mahindra’s 2017/2018 Formula E car, with the M4Electro set to be raced in season four.
“I’ve been coming to the Goodwood Festival of Speed for many years, and it never disappoints,” Heidfeld said.
“The variety and volume of cars and people is always astonishing.
“It was great fun to drive up the hill with the target of setting a new electric single-seater record, which we managed to do – but I think we have to come back to challenge the outright electric record.
“It’s positive to see that next season’s drivetrain, which we showed here for the first time, ran problem-free.
“We haven’t had many tests with it before so, all-in-all, it was a very good, productive and fun weekend.”
