The final race of Extreme E’s inaugural season, which also marks the Championship’s return to the UK since St. Helena departed over nine months ago, took place this weekend at the British Ministry of Defence Base at Bovington in Dorset.
As the electric off-road series closes out Season 1, the Jurassic X Prix finds itself running on a 3.8-kilometre course that once again provides a completely new set of challenges for the nine teams and 18 world-class drivers.
The final event of the 2021 Championship also took on a different racing format this weekend, with the teams battling it out over three laps instead of the usual two. The first into the driving seat completed two laps before pulling into the switch zone and handing over to their team-mate who then completed the course to finaly cross the finish line.
Qualifying
X44 kept their championship hopes alive by finishing fastest in Qualifying at the Jurassic X Prix, setting up a title-decider on Finals day with Rosberg X Racing (RXR). The result made it a clean sweep of top qualifier spots for X44’s Sébastien Loeb and Cristina Gutiérrez, who have finished all five X Prix in Extreme E’s maiden season as the fastest qualifiers.
Their title rivals RXR finished Qualifying for the Jurassic X Prix right behind them in second place and also lead the way so far this weekend in the Continental Traction Challenge worth five invaluable points for the victors.
The final Qualifying session of the campaign proved to be the closest fought yet in Extreme E. Qualifying 1 set the stall out for what was to come as all nine teams set a time within 45 seconds of each other, with the top five runners covered by just over 10 seconds.
It was similarly tight in Qualifying 2 with the nine teams separated by just over 35 seconds, while 15 seconds covered the top six runners.
Despite the fiercely competitive sessions it was X44 who came out on top for the fifth time this season, heading the chasing pack in Qualifying 1 and 2. RXR were a close second in Qualifying 1 and consolidated their position by finishing fourth in Qualifying 2 to secure second overall.
Qualifying points classification
1 X44 (Sébastien Loeb / Cristina Gutiérrez) 18 points
2 Rosberg X Racing (Johan Kristoffersson / Molly Taylor) 14 points
3 ACCIONA | Sainz XE Team (Carlos Sainz / Laia Sanz) 14 points
4 ABT CUPRA XE (Mattias Ekström / Jutta Kleinschmidt) 10 points
5 JBXE (Kevin Hansen / Mikaela Åhlin-Kottulinsky) 10 points
6 Veloce Racing (Lance Woolridge / Jamie Chadwick) 10 points
7 Andretti United Extreme E (Timmy Hansen / Catie Munnings) 6 points
8 SEGI TV Chip Ganassi Racing (Kyle LeDuc / Sara Price) 4 points
9 XITE ENERGY RACING powered by myenergi (Oliver Bennett / Christine Giampaoli Zonca) 4 points
Semi-Final 1
Semi-Final 1 at the Jurassic X Prix was an absolute thriller, as X44 and JBXE narrowly defeated Veloce Racing to secure their Final spots. JBXE’s Hansen made a strong start from the middle grid slot to take the lead from Loeb and Lance Woolridge with all three ODYSSEY 21s running closely together despite the lack of visibility. After some initial squabbling between the trio, Woolridge dropped back due to a spin. However, all thoughts of a comfortable run to the Final for JBXE and X44 were quickly erased due to the pace of the Veloce Racing driver, who immediately closed the gap to ensure all three teams were nose to tail going into the Switch Zone at the end of their runs.
Some clever tactical positioning from X44 in the Switch Zone ensured Gutiérrez was able to get the jump on her rivals and exit ahead of JBXE’s Åhlin-Kottulinsky and Veloce Racing’s Jamie Chadwick. Despite running closely together throughout the final lap their positions remained unchanged, ensuring X44 and JBXE secured their place in the Jurassic X Prix Final. X44 were handed a further boost courtesy of Loeb, who banked five extra points for the team after going quickest in the Continental Traction Challenge.
Semi-Final 2
After seeing their title rivals X44 secure victory in Semi-Final 1, RXR rose to the challenge in the second Semi-Final to claim their Jurassic X Prix Final spot alongside ACCIONA | Sainz XE Team. A rapid getaway from Kristoffersson ensured RXR shot into the lead, fending off Sainz Snr. and Ekström. As the RXR driver stretched the gap a fantastic battle ensued behind, as Ekström deployed Hyperdrive to make the move on Sainz Snr., but the two-time World Rally Champion used all of his experience to hold off the ABT CUPRA XE driver to retain second. That proved to be significant, as shortly afterwards the bonnet flew off of Ekström’s car following one of the jump which caused the Swede to lose pace and drop back.
As the ODYSSEY 21s approached the switch zone, Kristoffersson and Sainz Snr. managed to stretch the gap out front with the unfortunate Ekström losing further ground. The ABT CUPRA XE car was then held in the Switch Zone to check for any further damage and although the team were able to get going once more it was following a significant delay. This allowed Taylor and Sanz to comfortably progress into the Final.
The Crazy Race
Andretti United Extreme E booked their place in the Final after overcoming SEGI TV Chip Ganassi and XITE ENERGY RACING in a closely contested Crazy Race.
There was action from the outset as all three ODYSSEY 21s jockeyed for position off the start line as they searched frantically for grip and the best line into the twisty, narrow sections of the Jurassic X Prix course. It was Andretti United Extreme E’s Hansen who came out on top in that battle, with Oliver Bennett and Kyle LeDuc following closely behind for XITE ENERGY RACING and SEGI TV Chip Ganassi Racing, respectively.
LeDuc was not keen on staying behind for long, though, and made an audacious, aggressive move to overtake Bennett around the outside and began to close in on Hansen. The Andretti United Extreme E driver was able to keep LeDuc at bay until the Switch Zone, where it was left to their team-mates Munnings and Sara Price to battle it out for a place in the Final.
Despite closing the gap on Munnings, Price was unable to make the all-important overtake. Price tried one final move coming out of The Twins section of the course but was narrowly beaten to the finish line by Munnings who scored a crucial Crazy Race win on home soil.
Championship Standings
- Rosberg X Racing (155 points – three X Prix wins)
- X44 (155 points – one X Prix win)
- JBXE (119 points)
- Andretti United Extreme E (117 points)
- ABT CUPRA XE (100 points)
- ACCIONA | Sainz XE Team (100 points)
- Veloce Racing (77 points)
- SEGI TV Chip Ganassi Racing (74 points)
- XITE ENERGY RACING (63 points)
Race
Sébastien Loeb and Cristina Gutiérrez finally took their first Extreme E win at their fifth attempt, as well as five extra points for being fastest through the Continental Traction Challenge at the Jurassic X Prix, but it was not enough for X44 to wrestle the Championship lead from RXR.
Despite finishing level on 155 points with Jurassic X Prix winners X44, Rosberg X Racing (RXR) with Johan Kristoffersson and Molly Taylor took the Championship due to having more X Prix victories over the course of the campaign, with three wins from five events.
Jenson Button’s JBXE and Andretti United Extreme E completed the podium places in the Final by finishing second and third, respectively, while ACCIONA | Sainz finished behind the newly-crowned champions RXR in fifth.
Johan Kristoffersson, RXR: “It’s fantastic; this has been a new racing series, new team, and new locations but we’ve worked so hard to get here and to be champions really feels amazing. Molly [Taylor] drove excellently today, managing the challenging conditions and I knew that all that remained for me was to not make any mistakes and bring the car home safely. We’re delighted to be champions and look forward to celebrating with the team.”
Molly Taylor, RXR: “It feels amazing to be the first-ever championship winners of Extreme E. This season has been brutal, racing in some of the most remote parts of the world in truly extreme conditions but we’ve worked together as a team and we’re delighted with this result. The nerves were definitely there today but Johan [Kristoffersson] and I kept our eyes on the final prize, and the whole team effort across many months has brought us to this point today.”
Nico Rosberg, RXR Founder and CEO, said: “We are so delighted to be crowned the inaugural Extreme E Champions and I am really proud of the entire RXR team. The team has worked so hard all season and performed consistently, racing in some of the world’s most remote locations. To be Champions is such an honour.
“A massive congratulations to our drivers, Molly Taylor and Johan Kristoffersson, who have been excellent all season. We came into Extreme E to raise awareness of climate change, and promote sustainability, but also as a racing team, we want to win and so we will remember this feeling forever.”
Alejandro Agag, Founder and CEO of Extreme E, said: “We are really happy with the first Extreme E season. It has not been easy in the middle of a pandemic, but we have delivered five X Prix events, and the Finale in Dorset produced some spectacular racing. Since our first event in Saudi Arabia, we have had a lot of eventful and incredible moments ending in a brilliant title decider today.
“I must say congratulations to RXR – they did a great job in winning the first-ever Extreme E Championship. I must also say well done to X44 who were the victors at the Jurassic X Prix today and really deserved the win after being the fastest qualifiers at every X Prix this season. We are now looking forward to what we hope will be a fantastic Season 2.”
With five cars vying for position to get the best traction and grip off the line in the Jurassic X Prix Final, the start was crucial. It was the Championship contenders who got the best getaway, with X44’s Gutiérrez flying into the lead ahead of RXR’s Taylor, with JBXE’s Mikaela Åhlin-Kottulinsky, Andretti United Extreme E’s Catie Munnings and ACCIONA | Sainz XE Team’s Laia Sanz fighting for position behind.
As Gutiérrez began to pull away from the chasing pack, the tension began to grow in the RXR team as Taylor fell into the clutches of those behind, losing places to Åhlin-Kottulinsky and Munnings to slip back to fourth, just ahead of Sanz in fifth place. This was dangerous territory for RXR, who needed to finish fourth or higher to claim the title.
The battle for third place in the standings has been similarly competitive – with just a point separating JBXE and Andretti United Extreme E ahead of the Jurassic X Prix. Their closely fought contest continued as Munnings closed in on Åhlin-Kottulinsky, but there was drama as they both attempted to enter the Driver Switch Zone, with contact between the pair sending Munnings into a spin. Fortunately, she was able to get going again and retain third place, such was the pace advantage the leading trio had over RXR and ACCIONA | Sainz XE Team.
The order was maintained after the driver switch, with Loeb preserving X44’s lead over JBXE’s Kevin Hansen in second and Andretti United Extreme E’s Timmy Hansen in third.
The stage was set for Kristoffersson and Carlos Sainz Snr. to fight it out for the title-deciding fourth-place finish, but it was a battle that fizzled out after problems in the Driver Switch Zone meant ACCIONA | Sainz XE Team lost ground. This gave RXR breathing space in their bid to score the crucial points needed to seal the championship. That they did, with a jubilant RXR team celebrating wildly as Kristoffersson crossed the finish line in fourth to confirm Extreme E’s maiden champions.
Sébastien Loeb, X44: “This has been a challenging championship for us, but this weekend was the best so far. We came first in Qualifying in every X Prix, but we kept having bad luck in the Finals so to end on equal points with RXR after the season they’ve had is incredible and shows what we can do.
“I’m confident we will do even better next year, but for now we will be celebrating with the team!”
Cristina Gutiérrez, X44: “I am so happy – finally we have won an X Prix! I’m very proud of Seb [Loeb] and everyone in the team. It has been a tough year, but they all worked really hard and today it paid off.
“A first-place race finish and second in the championship is amazing, and of course congratulations to RXR for such a great season. I can’t wait to come back next year and see what else we can do!”
Kevin Hansen, JBXE: “As soon as I stepped into the team Mikaela [Åhlin-Kottulinsky] and I have done everything we can to be as fast as possible because with all the cars being the same the driving is the biggest part. To be competitive on four very different courses as part of such a young team, that joined late to the series, means that I am super proud of our performance.”
Mikaela Åhlin-Kottulinsky, JBXE: “It is incredible that we have been on the podium in the last four rounds. I want to say thank you to the team because we have been making a step forward at each round and that has brought us here. I did teach Kevin [Hansen] to drift on ice when he was about 13 and that was key to this year!
“It is all about details when it comes to performance and since we speak the same language we can get those nailed and we work together really well.”
Timmy Hansen, Andretti United Extreme E: “It was actually one of the simpler weekends of the season and it was straightforward where the line would be. Of course, there was the mud, but it was more about being in the right place on the track. I enjoyed that and the level of the drivers around this paddock, male and female, has been really high. We pushed each other hard. I went over the limit in Qualifying 2 yesterday, so it has been challenging but enjoyable.
“It has been very exciting and it looks like in the world of motorsport it is going more and more electric.”
Catie Munnings, Andretti United Extreme E: “It was a crazy Final! The visibility was quite poor on the course. I got pushed a couple of times, and coming into the Switch Zone I kind of had the line and was then pushed into the ditch, which was really disappointing when we were fighting for third in the Championship.
“But it was always going to be a crazy race with the amount of water and mud here, and actually following one of those cars you realise how fast it is and how on the limit we all are.”
Final Result
1. X44 (Sébastien Loeb / Cristina Gutiérrez) 3 laps (9:20:609)
2. JBXE (Kevin Hansen / Mikaela Åhlin-Kottulinsky) (+3.613)
3. Andretti United Extreme E (Timmy Hansen / Catie Munnings) (+9.735)
4. Rosberg X Racing (Johan Kristoffersson / Molly Taylor) (+15.798)
5. ACCIONA | Sainz XE Team (Carlos Sainz Snr. / Laia Sanz) (+31.101)
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