Looking ahead to Season 4 with Ali Russell
It is just over a month since we returned from Chile following the 2023 season finale, and already we are only a month or so away from the start of our fourth Extreme E campaign.
Everyone involved in the championship works at a phenomenal pace – and the turnaround to launch a new season within a few weeks of the previous one concluding is testament to that.
We cannot wait to get Season 4 underway. Last year was our most competitive yet, with new race winners and a record five teams still in the hunt going into the final X Prix of the campaign to win the championship. Rosberg X Racing showed their supremacy once again to take their second Extreme E title, but we are certain the chasing pack will want to lay down a marker when we resume our on track action in Saudi Arabia next month.
There is so much to be excited about in 2024 for our championship. Not only will our new Extreme E season get underway in February, but plans for the launch of Extreme H – a world-first in motorsport – are now well underway.
There were plenty of milestones for us last year regarding Extreme H, which made it a hugely successful one – we signed a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding with the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), setting out a framework to create the first-ever hydrogen off-road racing world championship, and then followed that up with the launch of a pioneering hydrogen technical working group, where we will collaborate closely with the FIA and Formula One.
The next step is to showcase our efforts and Extreme H track testing is well underway. We cannot wait to show you this exciting new race car, powered by hydrogen and at the forefront of sustainable technology and innovation, at full speed on one of our courses later this year. It is a huge achievement for everyone involved in the championship to get to this stage, but we are conscious there is plenty of work still to do before Extreme H launches in 2025.
Dovetailing the development of our Extreme H car with another action-packed, drama-filled Extreme E campaign is no mean feat, but is a challenge that is relished by the whole team.
While we look ahead towards our exciting hydrogen-powered future, we remain fully focused on the latest instalment of our ten-race global voyage in 2024. Expanding each event last year to doubleheaders was absolutely the right thing to do for our championship, meaning we had double the racing action with no additional carbon footprint.
Saudi Arabia has kicked off each Extreme E season so far and we are delighted to be returning to the Kingdom for Rounds 1-2 on 17-18 February.
As we progress a dedicated testing programme of the new Extreme H car Europe will form the cornerstone of Season 4, playing host to exciting racing during the middle leg of the campaign as we streamline our operations.
The venue for Rounds 3-4 in July will be announced shortly, while we are delighted to return to Sardinia in September for back-to-back events. Sardinia is also likely to be the setting of the Extreme H car’s first public laps on an off-road race course, which will be a poignant milestone for motorsport and hydrogen power.
Crowning our 2024 campaign with a finale in the United States will be a fitting way to round off Extreme E.
North America is a crucial market for us and to bring our exciting series there for the first time is going to be spectacular. Given our climactic championship conclusions in our three seasons so far, we hope to deliver more of the same for our US audience in November. We have fantastic relationships across the continent and so to expand our presence there at such a crucial time for our championship is going to be special.
We are continuing to grow and we are looking forward to a huge year ahead, as we get ready for another racing season as well as developing the world’s first hydrogen off-road series.
We wish all of our fans, followers and partners a happy new year and hope you enjoy another spectacular Extreme E season.
Ali.
