W Series racer Alice Powell gets Virgin Formula E rookie test shot

The 27 year-old, who won the final round of the inaugural all-female single-seater championship at Brands Hatch last July, was confirmed on Tuesday as one of Envision Virgin's two drivers for the test, which will take place the day after the Marrakesh E-Prix on March 1.

"Firstly, I'd like to thank the team for the opportunity to test their Formula E car," said Powell.

"It's an amazing experience and I can't wait to jump into the car now, especially having spent time on the team's simulator.

"My work as an ambassador for D2BD allows me to inspire young female drivers and this test will really help further that. I'm also looking forward to working with the team and helping them to extract as much data as possible from the test to help them this season."

Powell is set to return for a second season in the W Series this year after finishing third in the points last year behind Jamie Chadwick and Beitske Visser, who both participated in the post-Diriyah FE test in 2018 for NIO and BMW respectively.

She has previous experience of electric racing in the FE-supporting Jaguar I-PACE eTrophy, lying third in the points after the opening three races of the current season.

Envision Virgin managing director Sylvain Filippi commented: "It's great to have Alice on-board for the Marrakesh test. As someone who has already driven in an electric championship, she'll bring a great understanding of the technical elements of the car.

"She's spent a lot of time getting to learn the car and the track on our simulator in Silverstone and as a team we're looking forward to getting her out on track. "As an ambassador for Dare To Be Different, Alice is a also great role model to aspiring young women in racing, something we as a team fully support."

Envision Virgin says it will announce its second driver for the test later this week.

The only other drivers confirmed to be participating in the test so far are Nissan e.dams duo Jann Mardenborough and Mitsunori Takaboshi.