NEOM McLaren XE look to move on from Island X Prix

After a difficult Free Practice on Friday, where the team was disqualified for weighing in under the minimum allowance, NEOM McLaren Extreme E were up against in Rounds 5 and 6 of Season 3 in Sardinia.

In the first Qualifying Heat of Round 5, Foust enjoyed a fierce battle with No.99 GMC Hummer EV Chip Ganassi Racing’s RJ Anderson, but a subsequent puncture as a result of damage to the team’s ODYSSEY 21 dropped them down to fifth place.

A slow start from Gilmour in Heat 2 left NEOM McLaren Extreme E with it all to do and although Foust managed to get ahead of JBXE’s Andreas Bakkerud on his run, fourth in the Heat was not enough to secure a spot in the Grand Final.

An appearance in the Redemption Race ensued, with NEOM McLaren Extreme E Team taking second, and thus seventh overall, after a four-lap battle with Carl Cox Motorsport and X44 Vida Carbon Racing.

On Round 5, Emma Gilmour, NEOM McLaren Extreme E Team, said: “It was a tough day and we didn't have luck on our side. The car was quick and the team has been working hard on ensuring it is. There were definitely positives in the day, but the results unfortunately don't reflect that. There was good racing from Tanner [Foust] and myself in the Redemption Race as well, and finishing that in P2 was good, but other than that I think we were disappointed with the results."

Tanner Foust, NEOM McLaren Extreme E Team, added: “We tried every option and I think we made good decisions along the way. However, it wasn’t enough for us to get into the Grand Final.

“In the Redemption Race, we found a little bit of redemption with a second-place finish, which gets us some valuable points, but that’s not where we ultimately want to be.”

Unfortunately for the team, Round 6 in Sardinia would not yield a finish higher up the order – missing out on a spot in the Grand Final by just two points after their Heat scores were added together.

In Qualifying 1, NEOM McLaren Extreme E Team secured a credible third place. Foust once again fought hard against fellow countryman Anderson to run third at the driver change. New Zealander Gilmour then took the wheel, and showed excellent race craft to keep a charging Bakkerud at bay in his JBXE ODYSSEY 21 to keep position. 

Despite this strong start, a retirement after suffering in Heat 2 ensured a second Redemption Race for NEOM McLaren Extreme E Team in Sardinia – where Foust and Gilmour could only manage fourth and ninth overall from Round 6.

After a hard-fought Island X Prix, NEOM McLaren Extreme E Team will look to get their championship back on track in the remaining races of Season 3.

Foust added: “I would say a very long weekend in Sardinia comes to an end. Our only real weakness was our start – and unfortunately for us, on this course, as on a lot of Extreme E tracks, the start is really important for the final result. If you are not able to get out as one of the leading cars, then you find yourself fighting for positions and visibility for the rest of the race.

“Our pace around the track was good. I think we overtook well, which is promising, but almost bittersweet, as we were not able to convert that into good results. We will be focusing on the work needed ahead of the next round.”

Gilmour concluded: “It was a tough day again for us and a tough weekend overall in Sardinia. We got punished on our starts and it's a very difficult course to fight back on. The first Qualifying race went well, finishing P3 – the second Qualifying race was much poorer. We got damage to the car and then had to retire from the race, finishing P4.

“In the Redemption Race it didn't get much better. A poor start, followed by again damage to the car, left us unable to fight back. A tough day, with few positives for us here in Sardinia – although the team did amazing work, ensuring the car was repaired on multiple occasion, and was in a good window. 

“We will have to wait another while until the next event to be able to bounce back. I am confident we will.”

Extreme E:

Simra Gulzar, Communications Supervisor
E: media@extreme-e.com / T:+44 7552 858229

Josh Bell, MPA Creative:     
E: jb@mpacreative.com  / T: +44 7557 102540

Diego Bustos, BE Mass Media (Latin America -including Brazil-, US Hispanics, Spain, Portugal)
E: diego.bustos@bemassmedia.com / +569-8829-9138 or +1-660-847-4645

NOTES TO EDITORS

About Extreme E:

Now in its third season, Extreme E is a radical off-road racing series, founded by the same team behind Formula E, which showcases electric SUVs and futuristic technologies in some of the world’s most remote and challenging environments.

This five-event global voyage utilises its sporting platform for the purpose of promoting electrification, environment and equality. The series’ goal is to highlight the impact of climate change in some of the world’s most endangered environments, promote the adoption of electric vehicles to pave the way for a lower carbon future, and provide a world-first gender-equal motorsport platform.

The first sport to ever be built out of a social purpose, Extreme E aims to minimise environmental impact while maximising awareness, racing in places that have already been damaged or affected by climate change or human interference and taking fans deep into the heart of the most pressing issues facing our planet’s future.

Not only that, but Extreme E is also helping the car industry to develop future-facing technology using racing as a platform for road innovation, which accelerates change ten-fold.

Season 3 Calendar: 

Saudi Arabia
11-12 March 2023
Scotland
13-14 May 2023
Sardinia, Italy
08-09 July 2023
Amazon/USA
16-17 September 2023
Chile
02-03 December 2023

About Continental Tires: Founding Partner and Official Tire Partner 
Continental develops pioneering technologies and services for sustainable and connected mobility of people and their goods. Founded in 1871, the technology company offers safe, efficient, intelligent, and affordable solutions for vehicles, machines, traffic and transportation. 
 
The tyres business area has 24 production and development locations worldwide. Continental is one of the leading tyre manufacturers with more than 56,000 employees and offers a broad product range for passenger cars, commercial and special-purpose vehicles as well as two-wheelers. Through continuous investment in research and development, Continental makes a major contribution to safe, cost effective and ecologically efficient mobility. The portfolio of the tyres business area includes services for the tyre trade and fleet applications, as well as digital management systems for tyres. 
 
Continental developed a new high-performance tyre for Extreme E Season 2, redesigned to include the use of more sustainable materials. Each of the 30 tyres that Continental has supplied to all ten Extreme E teams now contains recycled polyester made from approximately 60 PET bottles.  In total, around a third of each second-generation CrossContact Extreme E tyre consists of recycled and renewable raw materials. 
 
About LuisaViaRoma: Official Fashion Partner 
Defined by the Financial Times as “a haven for directional fashion,” LUISAVIAROMA.COM is the top online luxury fashion destination with 5,000,000 visitors per month and worldwide shipping. With each new season, the website presents the collections of more than 600 established designers and young emerging talents. 
 
About Enel X Way: Official Smart Charging Partner 
Enel X Way is the Enel Group's new global business line entirely dedicated to electric mobility. Currently, Enel X Way manages approximately 320,000 charging points, both directly and through interoperability agreements in place worldwide. As a global platform for e-mobility, the company is focused on developing flexible charging technologies and solutions to improve the customer experience by supporting the electrification of transport for consumers, businesses, cities and public administrations. 
 
Find out more on https://enelxway.it/en/home  and follow Enel X Way on its social media channels: 
 
LinkedIn: Enel X Way  
Twitter: @enelxway 
Instagram: @enelxway   
Facebook: @enelxway 
 
About Zenith: Official Timekeeper and Founding Partner 
Zenith exists to inspire individuals to pursue their dreams and make them come true – against all odds. Since its establishment in 1865, Zenith became the first watch manufacture in the modern sense of the term, and its watches have accompanied extraordinary figures that dreamt big and strived to achieve the impossible – from Louis Blériot’s history-making flight across the English Channel to Felix Baumgartner’s record-setting stratospheric free-fall jump. Zenith is also highlighting visionary and trailblazing women – past and present – by celebrating their accomplishments and creating in 2020 its first-ever collection dedicated entirely to them, Defy Midnight. 
 
With innovation as its guiding star, Zenith features exceptional in-house developed and manufactured movements in all its watches. Since the creation of the El Primero in 1969, the world’s first automatic chronograph calibre, Zenith has gone on to master fractions of the second with the Chronomaster Sport and its 1/10th of a second precision and the DEFY 21 with a precision of 1/100th of a second. 
 
About ENOWA: Official Green Hydrogen Partner 
ENOWA is a world-class energy, water and hydrogen company founded in NEOM, Saudi Arabia. ENOWA produces and delivers clean and sustainable resources for industrial and commercial applications using a customer-centric smart and connected system, designed to be circular and takes advantage of NEOM's optimal solar and wind energy profile. ENOWA benefits from NEOM's greenfield site, which has no legacy infrastructure, to advance Energy, Water, and Hydrogen innovation. 
 
ENOWA will act as a catalyst and incubator for developing new, sustainable energy and water businesses while creating a robust economic sector regionally. Through its commitment to renewable energy and efficient water management, ENOWA seeks to become a global reference for industry leaders and setting a benchmark for sustainable economic circular systems around the world. 
 
For more information, please visit: enowa.neom.com 
 
About Vodafone Business: Official Technology and Communication Partner 
With expertise in connectivity, global scale and the leading IoT platform, Vodafone Business is a leading technology communications company helping organisations succeed in a digital world and keeping society connected. Vodafone’s purpose is to connect for a better future, enabling an inclusive and sustainable digital society, and many of its solutions have sustainability and inclusivity embedded. 
 
Unique in its scale as the largest pan-European and African technology communications company, Vodafone transforms the way we live and work through its innovation, technology, connectivity, platforms, products and services. Vodafone operates mobile and fixed networks in 21 countries, and partners with mobile networks in 52 more.  As of 31 December 2021, they had over 300m mobile customers, more than 28m fixed broadband customers and over 22m TV customers. 
 
This collaboration will see Vodafone Business leading innovations and capabilities such as 5G, MPN, IOT and MEC, integrated into Extreme E’s global operations and will include full involvement in the purpose- driven elements of the series, with special prominence on Extreme E’s Legacy Programmes and the Science Laboratory on board the St Helena. Through its IOT solutions, Vodafone Business is helping sustainability efforts, including agriculture, forestation and decarbonisation of energy grids. 
 
Find out more on http://www.Vodafone.com/business  and follow Vodafone on its social media channels: 
 
Twitter: @VodafoneGroup  
LinkedIn:  www.linkedin.com/company/vodafone 
 
About EY: Official Sustainability Partner 
EY is a global leader in assurance, consulting, strategy, transactions and tax services, and already plays a significant role in working with Extreme E. Originally announcing its collaboration with the championship back in 2020, EY came on board to help Extreme E achieve its commitment to minimising its overall footprint whilst creating a positive legacy. 
 
Whilst Extreme E strives ‘to race without a trace’, the framework provided by EY has helped the series to minimize its environmental impact across each of its remote race locations. Both prior and post-racing impact assessments have supported Extreme E to strategically plan their actions within these areas. 
 
EY and Extreme E will work closely together to promote the five pillars of Extreme E (or “Five Es”) through the adoption of ‘XE Talks’. These informative presentations, facilitated by Extreme E’s Scientific Committee, will shed light on the Five Es, showcasing the joint commitment of EY and Extreme E. 
 
About CBMM: Founding Supplier  
CBMM | Niobium is a founding supplier of Extreme E and the Championship’s official Niobium Technology Supplier and Chassis Technology Supplier. 
 
Critical to the automotive sector, niobium produces stronger, lighter and more sustainable cars with better energy efficiency. Its technologies are already widely applied in different areas, including light-weighting, safety, emissions reduction and electronics that will help lead to a sustainable sector transformation. Key applications of niobium in the Mobility sector include chassis, brakes and exhaust systems, drivetrains, batteries and EV charging stations and any number of ancillary components. Its qualities mean materials can be made lighter, stronger, more robust and more reliable – all while being more sustainable than other materials.  
 
CBMM offers technical innovation to customers around the globe through a team of over 2,000 highly trained, dedicated professionals providing cutting-edge niobium products and technology to over 400 clients in around 40 countries. 
 
About Kaizen Clean Energy: Official Clean Energy Technology Provider 
Kaizen Clean Energy (KCE), a manufacturer of hydrogen generators, is developing integrated solutions for electric vehicle (EV) charging, hydrogen fuelling, and distributed power for the grid and critical assets. 
 
KCE offers its mobile microgrid to customers through an Energy as a Service contract, which eliminates large capital expenses and provides customers with the flexibility to scale with energy needs over time.  
 
Kaizen Clean Energy will support ENOWA - NEOM’s energy, water, and hydrogen subsidiary and Green Hydrogen Power Partner to Extreme E - in delivering a pioneering hydrogen microgrid solution to the championship. 
 
Find out more on: www.kaizencleanenergy.com.