EXTREME E
JEDDAH (SAU)
17-18 FEBRUARY
ROUND 1/5
Reigning champion Rosberg X Racing gained an early points lead after sharing the victory spoils with Sainz XE during Extreme E’s season-opening doubleheader in Saudi Arabia.
RXR’s formidable duo of Johan Kristoffersson and Mikaela Ahlin-Kottulinsky won both of their qualifying heats in the desert dunes to comfortably progress to Saturday’s grand final, where they were pushed hard by exciting new McLaren XE pairing Mattias Ekstrom and Cristina Gutierrez.
Ekstrom performed a switchback move exiting the first corner to grab an early lead before Kristoffersson wrestled the advantage away from his old World Rallycross rival. Ahlin-Kottulinsky emerged from the Switch Zone in front after taking over from Kristoffersson but soon faced pressure from Gutierrez, who slammed into the back of the Swede’s machine as the pair negotiated a jump. There was further contact as Gutierrez squeezed her way in front, but Ahlin-Kottulinsky immediately dived back up the inside before taking victory by just 0.167 seconds in one of Extreme E’s closest finishes. Veloce Racing’s Kevin Hansen and Molly Taylor came home third, while Fraser McConnell rolled on his Sainz debut.
Having narrowly missed out on the final, Andretti’s long-standing double-act Timmy Hansen and Catie Munnings scored valuable points by taking a dominant triumph in the Redemption Race ahead of new American squad Legacy Motor Club, who paired off-road and stunt legend Travis Pastrana with teenager Gray Leadbetter.
Andretti made it to Sunday’s final, for which RXR again proved unbeatable in the qualifying
