Romain Dumas and Hedda Hosås named as guest Championship Drivers for Desert X Prix
Extreme E, the electric off-road racing series, today announces Romain Dumas and Hedda Hosås as guest Championship Drivers for the Desert X Prix in NEOM, Saudi Arabia.
Dumas and Hosås are deputising for Timo Scheider and Tamara Molinaro as Championship Drivers for the first race of Season 2, although the latter pair will continue their roles from Season 1 for the rest of the campaign. As Championship Drivers, Dumas and Hosås will perform both an advisory role and the role of back-up driver should any of the teams require a replacement during the X Prix.
Dumas started his racing career in karting and single-seaters before entering endurance racing and GT. Since then the Frenchman has won some of the greatest accolades within those disciplines, including the 24 Hours Le Mans and the 24 Hours Nürburgring.
Since 2001 Dumas has participated in every 24 Hours of Le Mans race and since 2004 has competed in the American Le Mans Series. In 2007 he came first in the American Le Mans Series and won first overall in the 24 Hours Nürburgring. Three years later Dumas, together with Timo Bernhard and Mike Rockenfeller, won the 2010 24 Hours of Le Mans, and he would go on to take two more wins in 2013 and 2016.
In 2018, Dumas won the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb for a fourth time, driving the Volkswagen IDR and setting a new overall record of 7:57.148. When asked about his training methods, he said they include using an old Arai helmet modified for neck weight training.
Dumas set another record in 2019, this time for an electric vehicle at the Nürburgring Nordschleife, completing the circuit in 6:05.336. Having had a taste of electric motorsport, the Frenchman will now take on the electric ODYSSEY 21, applying his extensive knowledge and experience as a Championship Driver for the start of Extreme E Season Two.
Romain Dumas, Extreme E guest Championship Driver, said: “I am very happy to be here and to discover the Championship for real. I followed it last year and was hoping to get to an X Prix as well, but I wasn’t able to unfortunately. I do like to get involved in different types of racing, so this is a great fit.
“Electric cars are great to drive because you have so much power. That makes for a lot of fun behind the wheel, and I am sure we will see that this weekend when the racing begins.
“It is a very nice course here in Saudi Arabia. I think the first section of the course is going to be very fast, while I think the second section is beautiful – there is a lot of sand and a lot of dunes to consider. There is a little bit of everything in NEOM. The corners are also quite fast and so making sure you are keeping the speed up over the sand and dunes is going to be an exciting challenge for the drivers. It is a very good track and it will be a lot of fun this weekend.”
Hosås’ early career comprised largely of motocross competition before making the transition to rallycross. More recently, she has been competing in the Norwegian Rallycross Championship and made a guest appearance in the Danish championship in 2021.
The Norweigan has close links to Extreme E already, as she is currently the reserve driver for Veloce Racing. Hosås was nominated by the team to take part in last season’s Rookie Test which followed the Enel X Island X Prix, but was unfortunately unable to get behind the wheel after Veloce Racing’s ODYSSEY 21 required repairs after the race in Sardinia.
Hedda Hosås, Extreme E guest Championship Driver, said: “I’m really excited to be the guest female Extreme E championship driver for the first round of Season 2. I’ve followed the series with huge interest since it launched and it was a privilege to be nominated by Veloce Racing for last year’s Rookie Test, even though I was not able to get behind the wheel.
“I’m going to really enjoy supporting the sporting team on a range of things in NEOM. Electric cars are a lot of fun to drive and environmentally friendly new technologies are going to be the way forward, so I am thrilled to be part of the Championship alongside Romain this weekend.”
Building on the success of its debut year in 2021, Extreme E Season 2 ‘ The Race For the Planet’ promises to captivate on and off track on a whole new level, whilst delivering on its overall purpose to tackle climate change through sport, starting with the Desert X Prix in NEOM, Saudi Arabia, 19-20 February.
