Extreme E: X44 qualify fastest at Jurassic X Prix
Lewis Hamilton’s X44 team kept their championship hopes alive by finishing fastest in Qualifying at the Jurassic X Prix, setting up a title-decider on Finals day with Rosberg X Racing (RXR).
The result made it a clean sweep of top qualifier spots for X44’s Sébastien Loeb and Cristina Gutiérrez, who have finished all five X Prix in Extreme E’s maiden season as the fastest qualifiers.
Their title rivals RXR finished Qualifying for the Jurassic X Prix right behind them in second place and also lead the way so far this weekend in the Continental Traction Challenge worth five invaluable points for the victors.
The final Qualifying session of the campaign proved to be the closest fought yet in Extreme E. Qualifying 1 set the stall out for what was to come as all nine teams set a time within 45 seconds of each other, with the top five runners covered by just over 10 seconds.
It was similarly tight in Qualifying 2 with the nine teams separated by just over 35 seconds, while 15 seconds covered the top six runners.
Despite the fiercely competitive sessions it was X44 who came out on top for the fifth time this season, heading the chasing pack in Qualifying 1 and 2. RXR were a close second in Qualifying 1 and consolidated their position by finishing fourth in Qualifying 2 to secure second overall.
Behind the championship challengers and completing the top three were ACCIONA | Sainz XE Team, who have shown strong pace throughout the Jurassic X Prix weekend. Carlos Sainz Snr. and Laia Sanz were third fastest in Qualifying 1 and repeated that feat in Qualifying 2 to book their place in the Semi-Finals.
In fourth place overall were the ABT Cupra XE pair of Jutta Kleinschmidt and Mattias Ekström. A trouble-free run in Qualifying 1 saw the team finish the session fourth fastest, but they could only manage sixth in Qualifying 2 after receiving a penalty for Kleinschmidt missing one of the signage posts on her maiden run in the session.
JBXE produced a brilliant recovery after a difficult opening Qualifying session to secure fifth overall. A penalty incurred in Qualifying 1 left JBXE down in eighth, but a strong Qualifying 2 saw the team able to demonstrate their pace behind the wheel of their ODYSSEY 21 and finish second to secure fifth a Semi-Final spot.
Veloce Racing have an all-new driver line-up this weekend, but despite this have been consistent throughout to claim sixth overall. The returning Jamie Chadwick and debutant Lance Woolridge have been on the pace throughout, finishing fifth in both sessions.
Andretti United Extreme E would have felt unlucky to finish sixth in Qualifying 1 despite only being 12 seconds off the leading pace in the session. They started strongly in Qualifying 2, before Timmy Hansen was caught out by a bump on course and crashed into the trees, causing bodywork damage to his ODYSSEY 21. Although gamely recovering and completing the lap, the lost time ensured Andretti United Extreme E were eighth fastest in the session and seventh overall, meaning they will go into the Crazy Race.
SEGI TV Chip Ganassi Racing also suffered difficulties on track which ensured they will have to fight for a place in the Final via tomorrow’s Crazy Race. Kyle LeDuc and Sara Price were well in contention after Qualifying 1, finishing seventh, albeit only 15 seconds off the pace-setting time. However, a steering issue on the team’s Qualifying 2 run saw LeDuc and Price slip back to last in the session and eighth overall.
XITE ENERGY RACING are the third and final team to make up the grid for tomorrow’s Crazy Race. Despite showing flashes of speed throughout the session, Oliver Bennett and GZ could only manage ninth and seventh in Qualifying 1 and 2, respectively, but still have one more opportunity tomorrow to reach their first X Prix Final of the season.
Qualifying points classification*
1 X44 (Sébastien Loeb / Cristina Gutiérrez) 18 points
2 Rosberg X Racing (Johan Kristoffersson / Molly Taylor) 14 points
3 ACCIONA | Sainz XE Team (Carlos Sainz / Laia Sanz) 14 points
4 ABT CUPRA XE (Mattias Ekström / Jutta Kleinschmidt) 10 points
5 JBXE (Kevin Hansen / Mikaela Åhlin-Kottulinsky) 10 points
6 Veloce Racing (Lance Woolridge / Jamie Chadwick) 10 points
7 Andretti United Extreme E (Timmy Hansen / Catie Munnings) 6 points
8 SEGI TV Chip Ganassi Racing (Kyle LeDuc / Sara Price) 4 points
9 XITE ENERGY RACING powered by myenergi (Oliver Bennett / Christine Giampaoli Zonca) 4 points
*Qualifying points classification is a provisional result
Semi-Final 1: X44, JBXE and Veloce Racing
Semi-Final 2: Rosberg X Racing, ACCIONA | Sainz XE Team and ABT Cupra XE
Crazy Race: Andretti United Extreme E, SEGI TV Chip Ganassi Racing and XITE ENERGY RACING
Driver quotes:
Sébastien Loeb, X44: “We are very happy to be top of qualifying again. It’s always good to show your speed against the other teams but tomorrow we have the Semi Finals and Finals and they are a very different type of driving so hopefully we can get the same success. We will be racing against some incredible drivers and it won’t be easy on this track but we are a strong team so let’s see what happens.”
Cristina Gutiérrez, X44: “It’s amazing to think we have been number one in qualifying in every race of Extreme E. We have had some bad luck in the finals that have cost us points so hopefully we have better luck tomorrow, but it’s great to be able to show how fast we can go. I’m happy that we were able to choose our grid position for the Semi Final as that will be so important to give us a head start, and then we will just have to focus and do everything we can to achieve a podium finish.”
Johan Kristoffersson, RXR: “We’re happy with the overall result. P2 is a really strong position going into the Semi Finals tomorrow and the car feels extremely fast despite such a challenging course. We will review all of our laps to make sure we go into the final day tomorrow completely focussed and ready for what will hopefully be an exciting challenge.”
Molly Taylor, RXR: “I’m pleased with today’s qualifying. The track is developing and changing the more laps are completed but we kept our runs really clean and managed the slippery conditions well. Tomorrow will certainly be difficult but the team is really focussed and we’re happy with the performance so far.”
Carlos Sainz, ACCIONA | Sainz XE Team: “So far this is being our best weekend of the season. We were especially quick when there was more mud on the track. This Sunday we will give our very best to reach the final. Our semi-final will be really challenging, but we will try to make our way to the final of the Jurassic X Prix.”
Laia Sanz, ACCIONA | Sainz XE Team: “We are really satisfied so far with this weekend. We were faster when there was mud on track, but now the lap times are improving and all the cars are really tight. I think we have done a good job so far. With the pace we have, we can fight for a good result.”
Jutta Kleinschmidt, ABT Cupra XE: “It has been a qualifying with ups and downs for us. We have been the first car out on track in both sessions which is always a challenge. In the first part I was probably a little bit too careful while I felt spot on in the session on Saturday. Unfortunately I missed one of the waypoints and we received a penalty. All possible on race day – that’s the beauty of Extreme E.”
Mattias Ekström, ABT Cupra XE: “Some good action out there during the first couple of sessions. The competition gets stronger and closer so that fans can expect an exciting race day. We have quite a challenge with Rosberg and Acciona Sainz in our semi-finals. We need to give it our all to make it to the final and fight for a trophy.”
Kevin Hansen, JBXE: “The qualifying was both up and down for us. We had some mistakes and a penalty in Qualifying 1, as well as a car that was difficult to drive. We went to hard work and improved the setup as well as our driving for Qualifying 2, and it’s great to see us get a P2. We have a good spot on the grid for tomorrow semi final, and hopefully we can bring it all the way to the final race of the season.”
Mikaela Åhlin-Kottulinsky, JBXE: “We feel great after Qualifying 2 – it is the best qualifying position we’ve had so we’re feeling good about that. It takes us into the Semi-Finals and we’re confident with the speed we have in us and the car, but it will be crucial tomorrow to make a good start in order to reach the Final.”
Timmy Hansen, Andretti United Extreme E: “Our pace was really good and everything felt great in the car but after waypoint 14 I hit a few bumps, lost the rear and went into the tree losing about 18 seconds. Obviously the time we lost dropped us right down in Qualifying 2 but we have been able to choose our starting position so will be fighting flat out to win the crazy race after I take the start.”
Sara Price, SEGI TV Chip Ganassi Racing: “Being the final car in qualifying, we knew what we needed to do to get in the top-six and avoid the Crazy Race. The track was formed in a little better today compared to yesterday and I felt really good on my first lap. The second lap kept us where we needed to be to pass the car over to Kyle.
“Unfortunately, really early in Kyle’s lap at waypoint three the power steering went away fully on the car. It looked like a tough lap for him to through but he did a nice job bringing the car back around and in one piece. Not being able to gain time due to the issue, our qualifying results put us in the Crazy Race.”
Kyle LeDuc, SEGI TV Chip Ganassi Racing: “Sara did what we needed her to do on the first two laps and put us in a really good position in the standings heading into the final lap. The start of my lap felt good, went through waypoint one with no issues, and went into waypoint two under heavy braking and noticed going through waypoint three that there was no power steering whatsoever. I kind of got a handle on it and tried to figure out what to do. I thought about a couple of options to do a hard reset quickly, but I had smelled hydraulic fluid in the truck and knew it was something in the hydraulic that had let go.
“It is a shame for this team that’s been working so hard. I tried to bullfight the truck around to at least get us out of the crazy race. But, yet again, we are in it.”