We’re “dune and dusted” for the first Extreme E race weekend in Saudi Arabia. See what I did there? After a full day of time-trial racing yesterday focus turned to wheel-to-wheel racing today. The grand final wasn’t as exciting as hoped, but the day did spit out some moments of excitement.
Extreme E: Final Race Result
The final featured three teams; Lewis Hamilton’s X44, Nico Rosberg’s Rosberg X Racing Team and Andretti United. GridPlay, the voting system for fans to let teams pick their starting position, meant Timmy Hansen of Andretti United was “on pole”. Hansen flew into first from the start and looked like he had built up quite a lead. Moments later, out of nowhere came Johan Kristoffersson of Rosberg X Racing.
Kristofferson took the lead and that was the end of the wheel-to-wheel racing as the German team never feel back out of top spot. A disappointing showing from both X44 drivers meant that the final turned out to be a little less exciting as hoped. There was at least half a minute between the teams, with Andretti United taking second and X44 following up in third.
Andretti United taking second is a massive win for the Extreme E race format as the team qualified fourth overall after Q2, won the “Crazy Race” and then went on to nab second spot overall. As a fan of F1, it’s great to see a new motorsport which seems capable to keeping the excitement going all weekend. Thanks to the format and penalties it’s been a bit of a guessing game from the early stages to see who might win out.
Extreme E Crash: Leduc And Hurtgen
While all eyes were on the final to see who’d take the points, there was also more wheel to wheel racing earlier in the day. We even had our first crash involving two cars. After a big roll yesterday, ABT Cupra XE had massive work overnight to get their car ready for the Shootout. Unfortunately, all that work led to them making the race where they would have another bit smash, but this time not the fault of Claudia Hurtgen. Caught up in the dust of the leading car, American Kyle Leduc driving the Segi TV Chip Ganassi Racing car smashed into the back of the German’s car leading to a red flag.
Extreme E: Standings After Round 1
Each Extreme E weekend will see points awarded for standings after Qualifying 2 on Saturday and more points after all racing is finished on Sunday. That’s why, despite taking the second spot in the final, X44 still takes second in the championship after round one.
| Position | Drivers | Team | Points |
| 1 | Molly Taylor and Johan Kristoffersson | Rosberg X Racing | 35 |
| 2 | Cristina Gutierrez and Sebastien Loeb | X44 | 30 |
| 3 | Catie Munnings and Timmy Hansen | Andretti United | 28 |
| 4 | Laia Sanz and Carlos Sainz Snr | Acciona | Sainz XE | 26 |
| 5 | Christine Giampaoli Zonca and Oliver Bennett | Hispano Suiza Xite Energy | 20 |
| 6 | Mikaela Ahlin-Kottulinsky and Jenson Button | JBXE | 17 |
| 7 | Claudia Hurgten and Mattias Ekstrom | ABT Cupra XE | 13 |
| 8 | Sara Price and Kyle Leduc | Segi TV Chip Ganassi Racing | 12 |
| 9 | Jamie Chadwick and Stephane Sarrazin | Veloce Racing | 8 |
Extreme E Round 2: Lac Rose – Senegal | Ocean X-prix
Now that Extreme E’s debut race is in the rearview mirror, we set our sights on Round 2 in Lac Rose, Senegal. Each Extreme E race location is picked to focus on the profound impact we, as humans, are having on our home planet. The focus of this race is climate change and the impact on marine ecosystems. After recently watching Seaspiracy my own eyes have been opened to how important marine life is and how terrifying it is that by 2048 we may no longer have fish in our oceans.
Lac Rose in Senegal will host the Ocean X Prix. The race site is also known as Lake Retba, approximately 30 kilometres from the Senegalese capital, Dakar, home of one of the world’s best known rally races.
The Senegal Extreme E Ocean X-prix takes starts on Saturday 29 May with racing taking place on Sunday 30 May.
