2 December 2023, Chile: Rosberg X Racing (RXR) took the win in Round 9, marking the team’s third victory of Season 3 and first victory in Chile at the Antofagasta Minerals Copper X Prix.
Finishing just 0.35 seconds ahead of nearest rivals ACCIONA | SAINZ XE Team (ASXE), Johan Kristoffersson and Mikaela Åhlin-Kottulinksy have taken the lead in the championship fight by six points with just one round to go.
Mikaela Åhlin-Kottulinsky, Rosberg X Racing, said: “I just tried to keep it tidy and keep Laia [Sanz] behind, but it was tight racing. Johan had a great start, and it was a great team effort. It’s really great to be taking home the win. We’re thrilled to be leading the championship and are looking forward to carrying this momentum into the next race.”
Johan Kristoffersson, Rosberg X Racing, said: “It was a great race between me and Mattias [Ekström]. I really enjoyed that battle. Then, watching Mikaela and Laia drive was really impressive. Tomorrow is a new day, and we’re now in the Championship lead, so it’s going to be an exciting showdown.”
X44 Vida Carbon Racing, who entered the Round 9 Grand Final having finished as top Qualifiers, complete the podium but are now out of reach of a second Extreme E title.
Fourth place in the race went to the NEOM McLaren Extreme E Team, with Tanner Foust and debutant Hedda Hosås putting forward consistent performances throughout the day’s racing action.
A DNF for Veloce Racing, who only managed to crawl off the start line due to damage sustained in Qualifying, puts the British squad out of contention for the Season 3 title having entered the weekend in third.
Winners of the Redemption Race were Lia Block and Timo Scheider, as Carl Cox Motorsport ended the day on a high having narrowly missed out on the Grand Final.
Find out where to watch tomorrow’s action here as Extreme E heads into Round 8 at the Island X Prix in Sardinia.
Grand Final
Tensions were high as the teams lined up on the start line, with four of them still in contention for the Extreme E Season 3 title.
ASXE launched into the lead, while behind RXR’s Kristoffersson hung back to surge through the middle of the pack in the first corner to take second. X44’s Fraser McConnell slotted into third with NEOM McLaren Extreme E Team’s Foust behind in fourth.
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As the dust settled, Veloce Racing could be seen still on the start line, before Kevin Hansen was able to start his ODYSSEY 21, avoiding a DNS to gain 10 points for the team. The damage sustained in Qualifying not only put Veloce Racing out of the race, but also out of the running for a maiden Extreme E title.
As the front two entered the Switch Zone, RXR’s Kristoffersson was able to pull up alongside ASXE’s Mattias Ekström. This proved crucial when ASXE struggled to leave their bay in the Switch Zone and dropped into second.
Åhlin-Kottulinsky absorbed the pressure from ASXE’s Laia Sanz throughout their two-lap stint to take victory for RXR. The win, alongside their Heat win in Qualifying and leading time in the Continental Traction Challenge, sees Nico Rosberg’s outfit at the top of the standings by six points as the championship fight goes down to the wire.
Laia Sanz, ACCIONA | SAINZ XE Team, said: “It’s a bitter sweet feeling after the Grand Final because the victory was really close and we were unlucky in the driver switch because all of a sudden there was a sand storm. That’s where I lost first place.
“The good thing is that both me and Mattias know that we had pace for more. We can be really happy that we are trailing by only six points because in the morning everything appeared to be much worse after the technical issue we encountered in the first Qualifying. We will give it our all tomorrow. We must go all in for the victory.”
X44 Vida Carbon Racing retained their position in third, ahead of NEOM McLaren XE, to make it onto the podium. The top-two finish for RXR and ASXE, however, means that the British team are out of the mix for the championship win.
Fraser McConnell, X44 Vida Carbon Racing, said: “It was a really awesome day. We won the first Heat, and came second our next Heat. Unfortuantely our GridPlay didn’t help us out and we got the last pick, but we made the best of what we had. I came out of the first corner in third, and we kept it clean in a realy tough Final with lots of fast guys and girls out there. We managed to stay in the fight for as long as we could and brought it home in P3 to repay the team with another podium.”
Redemption Race
With Andretti Altawkilat Extreme E and ABT CUPRA XE unable to start the race due to incidents in Qualifying, three cars lined up on the start line of the Redemption Race.
Carl Cox Motorsport’s Scheider used his ENOWA Hypderdrive off the line to take the lead ahead of JBXE’s Andreas Bakkerud, with No.99 GMC HUMMER EV Chip Ganassi Racing’s RJ Anderson in third.
Untroubled runs for both Scheider and Block saw Carl Cox Motorsport cross the line in first place, making the most of the situation having narrowly missed out on a place in the Grand Final.
A puncture for JBXE saw the team drop back into third place with a DNF, while No.99 GMC HUMMER EV Chip Ganassi Racing took second having both rolled and suffered at the hands of a 30-second penalty in Qualifying.
RESULTS
Grand Final
- Rosberg X Racing 8:26.992mins
- ACCIONA | SAINZ XE Team +0.356s
- X44 Vida Carbon Racing +3.748s
- NEOM McLaren Extreme E Team +8.754s
- Veloce Racing DNF
Redemption Race
- Carl Cox Motorsport 8:36.520mins
- No.99 GMC HUMMER EV Chip Ganassi Racing +15.012s
- JBXE DNF
- ABT CUPRA XE DNS
- Andretti Altawkilat Extreme E DNS
Championship Standings
- Rosberg X Racing: 164 points
- ACCIONA | SAINZ XE Team: 158 points
- Veloce Racing: 129 points
- No.99 GMC HUMMER EV Chip Ganassi Racing: 105 points
- X44 Vida Carbon Racing: 103 points
- ABT CUPRA XE: 75 points
- Andretti Altawkilat Extreme E: 71 points
- NEOM McLaren Extreme E Team: 57 points
- Carl Cox Motorsport: 48 points
- JBXE: 46 points
To learn more about Extreme E, visit – www.Extreme-E.com
