TAYLOR AND KRISTOFFERSON HELP ROSBERG TO EXTREME E GLORY
Johan Kristoffersson and Rosberg X Racing (RXR) team-mate Molly Taylor claimed the first Extreme E series victory in Saudi Arabia, while British driver Catie Munnings finished second together with team-mate Timmy Hansen for the Andretti United squad.
An 11th-hour format change meant the qualifying runs were held as single-car affairs, before a series of three-car races were run for the knock-out races and final on Sunday. The change in the weekend’s format was due to the amount of Arabian dust being thrown up from the single-specification, all-electric ODYSSEY 21 SUV machines.
In the opening exchanges of the final race, Hansen made the best launch and used his single-use power boost option to streak away immediately.
But, Hansen had a minor lack of momentum caused by a moment in Turn 1 and RXR driver Kristofferson sliced inside his World Rallycross Championship rival into the second turn to take the lead.
Such was the advantage of leading car, which was free of vision-impairing dust, that it was 30 seconds ahead of Hansen going into the driver change, while Loeb’s machine was a similar distance back in third and clearly struggling.
By delivering a strong second lap, Taylor completed the RXR team’s run to victory. Having swapped with Hansen, Munnings closed the gap on Taylor in the closing stages, while Gutierrez brought the X44 car home third with a technical problem.
Earlier in the day, Briton Oliver Bennett and team-mate Christine Giamaoli Zonca had beaten Jenson Button and Mikaela Ahlin-Kottulinsky in the ‘Crazy Race’. Veloce Racing’s effort ended on the very first competitive lap of the weekend when Stephane Sarrazin rolled the car, which he was due to share with W Series champion Jamie Chadwick.
Results
Final: 1 Johan Kristoffersson/Molly Taylor (RXR) 11m29s; 2 Timmy Hansen/Catie Munnings (Andretti United) +23.73s; 3 Sebastien Loeb/Christina Gutierrez (X44). Points: 1 RXR 35; 2 X44 30; 3 Andretti United 28; 4 Carlos Sainz/Laia Sanz (Acciona - Sainz) 26; 5 Oliver Bennett/Christine Giamaoli Zonca (Hispano Suiza Xite Energy) 20; 6 Jenson Button/Mikaela Ahlin-Kottulinsky (JBRX) 17.