Lewis Hamilton’s X44 Vida Carbon clinched the Extreme E title in a highly eventful season finale, as ABT Cupra took a maiden win in the Energy X-Prix in Uruguay.
The incident-filled two days begin with ACCIONA | SAINZ XE Team finishing P1 in the first Qualifying race with defending champions Rosberg X Racing and their nearest challengers X44 Vida Carbon Racing both suffering setbacks.
The weekend’s first session saw three red flags as Mikaela Åhlin-Kottulinksy and Cristina Gutiérrez rolled over along with JBXE’s Hedda Hosås. The X44 Vida Carbon team were forced to use the series’ backup car for the remainder of the weekend.
“It won’t be easy to get those five championship points from the Continental Traction Challenge in the next session, as when we are racing with more cars it will be really tough to improve the times,” said Lala Sanz after finishing top of the first qualifying. “We will see though – anything can happen.”
In the second Qualifying, Molly Taylor and Kevin Hansen finished P1 after a strong start and a penalty for on-course winners ABT Cupra XE with Lana and Carlos Sainz crossing the line second for the Spanish outfit.
“We did a really good job with the set up and driving improvement,” said Hansen. “We had a great position going into it and got a lead after the first lap and had a generally good run.’’
A collision for RXR ruled them out of contention in Heat 2 as they found themselves at the bottom of qualifying along with X44, a first for both teams.
The second session blew the championship wide open as the season headed towards its final day in Punta del Este, Uruguay. Sebastien Loeb had taken the risky decision to go for the five points from the Continental Traction Challenge rather than vie for a top Qualifying 2 spot. He achieved the fastest time, which remained unbeaten, and this proved a decisive factor during the weekend.
On Sunday, X44 won the Crazy Race to take the fifth spot in the championship final. The result meant the battle would go down to the wire with X44 needing 18 points in the Final to snatch the championship from RXR.
Also in Qualifying 2, Åhlin-Kottulinksy, the RXR driver lost her ODYSSEY 21 in a spin following a tussle with JBXE's Hedda Hosås for second position resulting in a 5-second penalty. RXR was later disqualified for a Switch Zone infringement resulting in XITE ENERGY Racing taking the second place with no other team finishing the race.
In the dramatic final race of the season, Nasser Al-Attiyah and newcomer Klara Andersson, who has joined Extreme E from World RX, bounced back from a penalty in their qualifying heat to win the final for ABT, ahead of McLaren’s Tanner Foust and Emma Gilmore, but third was enough for X44’s Sebastien Loeb and Cristina Gutierrez to seal the title crown.
Hamilton’s squad secured the Extreme E title after all three of its championship rivals failed to progress, but the decisive result only came after a time penalty cost Andretti’s Timmy Hansen and Catie Munnings a podium spot at the finish.
“I still can’t believe it,” said Cristina Gutiérrez of X44. “It was a very tough weekend for us, especially after my roll yesterday. The team did a crazy job with the (spare) car and Qualifying 2 was the first time we had driven it.”
Having secured five additional points for the best time in the Traction Challenge, X44 needed third or better in the final to overhaul RXR in the standings.
But Loeb ran wide after the start while battling with Al-Attiyah and dropped to fourth and then made contact a couple of times with Hansen as he tried to recover.
Al-Attiyah built a 3.3-second advantage over Foust before the driver swap, with Andersson maintaining that gap on the second leg to give ABT victory. Gilmore held off Munnings for second, with Gutierrez finishing a further two seconds adrift after taking over from Loeb.
But a seven-second penalty for speeding in the switch zone crucially dropped Andretti to fourth, to promote X44 up to third and with it the Extreme E title in the series’ second year. Veloce’s new pairing of Kevin Hansen and Molly Taylor ended the final in fifth place.
“I think the season finale was an amazing rollercoaster,” said Alejandro Agag, Founder and CEO of Extreme E. “Everything was open. There was an incredible comeback from X44 Vida Carbon Racing and bad luck for Rosberg X Racing, who have done some incredible things this season.”