The chasing pack needing a change of fortune in Scotland

The first double-header of 2023 reaped two first-time winners, with Veloce Racing and ACCIONA | SAINZ XE Team taking a first-place finish each at the Desert X Prix season opener.

This leaves just three teams on the Extreme E grid without their first X Prix win in the championship: NEOM McLaren Extreme E Team, JBXE and Carl Cox Motorsport.

The trio currently sit in the bottom four of the championship standings, followed by Andretti Altawkilat Extreme E, a team that has not taken an X Prix victory since Season 1 in Greenland. Will the new sporting format deliver fresh faces on top of the podium once again at the Hydro X Prix in Scotland?

The NEOM McLaren Extreme E Team enter Rounds 3 and 4 seventh in the standings on 14 points, with Tanner Foust and Emma Gilmour sitting ahead of Christine GZ and Timo Scheider for Carl Cox Motorsport on eight points. 

In ninth are JBXE’s fresh Norwegian driver-pairing of Hedda Hosås and former Championship Driver Andreas Bakkerud with five points, level with Timmy Hansen and Catie Munnings for Andretti Altawkilat Extreme E.

Coming close to victory in both the Antofagasta Minerals Copper X Prix and Uruguay Natural Energy X Prix towards the end of Season 2, the NEOM McLaren Extreme E Team looked to start their next campaign on a high.

Troubles in the Round 1 Qualifying Heats saw Foust and Gilmour battling it out in the first Redemption Race of Season 3. The pair showed glimpses of their Season 2 pace, leading the Redemption Race, which required a quick recovery from Gilmour to regain the lead from JBXE’s Hosås and snatch an all-important 8 points.

Round 2 saw the NEOM McLaren Extreme E Team's ODYSSEY 21 lining up on the start line of the Redemption Race once again, this time battling against defending champions X44 Vida Carbon Racing for the win. A tussle ensued, with Foust and Gilmour keeping pace behind Cristina Gutiérrez and Fraser McConnell. While they just fell short of another Redemption Race victory, NEOM McLaren Extreme E came away from Round 2 with the second quickest time in the Continental Traction Challenge.

DJ Carl Cox’s team may be new to the championship, but two seasoned drivers in the form of Scheider and GZ make Carl Cox Motorsport a team not to be underestimated. A second-place finish in Round 1’s Redemption race behind the NEOM McLaren Extreme E Team is testament to that.

Round 2 on the shores of NEOM saw a turn in fortunes, however, as a DNF for the team in Qualifying 1 Heat 1 put Carl Cox Motorsport on the back foot in their Extreme E race weekend debut.

Fourth place in their Qualifying 2 Heat was not enough to put GZ and Scheider in the Grand Final, but the pair’s confidence looked high as they stormed into second place in the Redemption Race. Running side-by-side with X44 as they left the Switch Zone, GZ temporarily took the lead of the race, before an unfortunate DNF put Carl Cox Motorsport out of contention.

JBXE enter the second race weekend of the season off the back of a difficult opening at the Desert X Prix. Jenson Button’s outfit showed good pace and, though ending up in the Redemption Race, the team found themselves initially leading the five-car stand-off.

Despite showing promise, the weekend did not bring a huge haul of points, after DNFs in both Redemption Races denied JBXE the chance to show their full potential. A fresh approach to the Hydro X Prix in Scotland, in the form of an all-Norwegian line-up as rallycross sensation Bakkerud teams up with Hosås, replacing Heikki Kovalainen, could bring the team those crucial championship points.

A similar tale of misfortune befell Andretti Altawkilat Extreme E at the Season 3 opener, with three rolls in two days putting Hansen and Munnings at the bottom of the standings.

The team started the weekend as they hoped to go on, securing the second quickest time in Free Practice behind eventual Round 1 winners Veloce Racing.

Hansen and Munnings looked to continue this strong form in the first Qualifying session of the weekend, but a roll for Munnings as she tried to overtake GZ marked the start of the team’s woes. Contact in Round 1’s Redemption Race between Scheider and Hansen then put Andretti Altawkilat Extreme E out of the race and in a difficult position heading into the second race on Sunday.

A third-place finish in Qualifying 1 Heat 1 of the second round hinted at a comeback for the team, but Qualifying 2 hit hard when a bump sent Hansen into a roll and the team out of contention for the Grand Final, before finally settling into third place in Round 2’s Redemption Race.

As heads turn to the second double-header of the 2023 season this weekend (13-14), in the former Glenmuckloch opencast coal mine site in Scotland, the chasing pack will be looking to build on their opening weekend to close the gap to the teams ahead. Find out where you can watch the on- and off-course excitement here. 

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 heading into 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 Allianz: Founding Partner and Official Insurance Partner 
The Allianz Group is one of the world's leading insurers and asset managers with more than 100 million private and corporate customers in more than 70 countries. 
 
Allianz customers benefit from a broad range of personal and corporate insurance services, ranging from property, life and health insurance to assistance services to credit insurance and global business insurance. 
 
Allianz is one of the world’s largest investors, managing around 790 billion euros on behalf of its insurance customers. Furthermore, our asset managers PIMCO and Allianz Global Investors manage 1.7 trillion euros of third-party assets. 
 
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.