Veloce Racing, Segi TV Chip Ganassi Racing and XITE Energy Racing look back on Season 1
A spectacular Extreme E finale saw strong performances from all nine Championship teams, including those at the bottom end of the overall standings. A competitive weekend from Veloce Racing allowed the team to overtake SEGI TV Chip Ganassi Racing in the table, finishing three points ahead at the close. Meanwhile, the American team managed to fend off XITE Energy Racing in both the Crazy Race and the Championship as a whole, finishing in eighth with 74 points to XITE Energy Racing’s 63.
Veloce Racing suffered a difficult start, with Stéphane Sarazzin’s roll enough to rule them out of the remainder of the season-opening Desert X Prix.
Success came eight weeks later in Senegal, with solid performances from both Sarazzin and Jamie Chadwick seeing them through to the Final, where the pair snatched second and a maiden trip to the podium.
The Arctic X Prix saw Veloce Racing qualify in sixth place, despite suffering broken power steering. A dramatic semi-final, which the team initially led, ended with the car limping across the line with broken suspension. Sardinia didn’t see a change in the team’s luck with Sarazzin suffering a huge roll in the Crazy Race, but walked away from the ODYSSEY 21 unscathed.
The season finale in Dorset, UK, offered a fresh start, with an all-new driver line-up of the returning Chadwick and Lance Woolridge. On what would prove to be their most competitive weekend of the season, Veloce Racing finished third in their semi-final behind X44 and JBXE – the teams which would go on to take first and second in the final.
“The Jurassic X Prix was by far our most competitive weekend from a performance perspective and all of the team can hold their heads high for that,” said Team Principal Rupert Svendsen-Cook. “We’ve learnt a huge amount this year, with what was a brand-new team built from the ground up. We have taken those crucial lessons into the off season to ensure we come back the best prepared we can be for 2022.”
With experienced off-road racers Sara Price and Kyle LeDuc at the wheel for SEGI TV Chip Ganassi Racing, many expected the American duo to challenge at the front of the pack. A crash in shakedown at the Desert X Prix in Saudi Arabia put the team on the back foot, before issues in qualifying only got them as far as the Shoot Out race.
Despite flashes of potential at the Ocean X Prix in Senegal, where LeDuc claimed the event’s Super Sector and five extra points for his team, further technical troubles in qualifying meant Price and LeDuc were once again unable to challenge for podium honours.
Poor fortune again befell the SEGI TV Chip Ganassi Racing team in Greenland, as LeDuc was forced to retire in qualifying due to a broken left-rear suspension. It looked like the team’s luck would turn in the Island X Prix after reaching the Final and taking a lead going into the final lap, but the team’s hopes of a dream victory after a season of bad luck ended with broken steering. Price and LeDuc’s season ended with eighth place in the Jurassic X Prix.
“Sardinia was an epic weekend for us,” highlighted LeDuc. “We really had a good plan. We put everything to work, and everything came out great except for the last half of the Final. We had a problem with the steering, and it obviously took us out, but the series and our team have pushed hard to keep bringing out updated parts.
“A lot of big upgrades have happened, and more are coming so that to me is very exciting and I definitely want to stick around for that for the future and keep racing these things because I want to win a race and win a Championship.
“You’ve got some of the biggest names in motorsport, biggest teams, biggest owners, so we’re throwing it down and we’re here to win these battles. We’re Extreme E and we need to represent that label.”
After a disappointing start to the season in Saudi Arabia, XITE Energy Racing were delighted with a sixth place in qualifying which booked them the final slot in the semi-finals for the Ocean X Prix. A tight fought battle with Veloce Racing’s Sarazzin and Chadwick saw the XITE team just miss out on a spot in the Final.
The pairing of Oliver Bennett and Christine GZ encountered difficulties in Greenland when their ODYSSEY 21 dropped to two-wheel-drive on the first lap of Q2 and Bennett returned to the paddock to retire after getting stuck out on track. The Enel X Island X Prix followed a similar story, with the XITE Energy Racing team struggling in qualifying due to broken steering and receiving penalties for missing waypoints out on the course. The drivers were unable to turn their luck around in the Crazy Race, finishing third behind JBXE and Veloce Racing.
XITE Energy Racing also made an appearance in the Crazy Race for the final race of the season in Dorset, UK. Following an exciting battle with SEGI TV Chip Ganassi Racing’s LeDuc, in which Bennett took the first corner, the team came home third in the Crazy Race once again.
“It’s been a tough first series for everyone, I think,” added Bennett. “There wasn’t a lot of testing pre-season, and I don’t think we realised as drivers and as teams quite how extreme these tracks can be. We’ve seen some tough environments that I think even the guys building the cars didn’t expect. But we can all build on what we’ve learnt and look at the weaknesses so that we can put in some solid laps and I’m hopeful for the future.”
