Electric motocross series E-Xplorer concludes first season in Sardinia - Team MIE wins title

Last weekend, the electric motocross racing series "E-Xplorer" finished its first season. In the support programme of Extreme E, which contested its Island X Prix in Italy at the same time, the Japanese team MIE secured the championship title. The series bosses around electric racing pioneer Alejandro Agag draw a positive conclusion.

Sandra Gomez and Jorge Zaragoza could hardly be stopped. With champagne bottles and coats of arms like knights in the Middle Ages might once have carried, the Spanish duo celebrated exuberantly on the podium made of wooden boards. At the finale of the first "E-Xplorer" motocross world cup season, the championship honoured its winners with shields instead of trophies - a special souvenir for their already curious trophy collection. In previous races, the riders had already been presented with cowbells and a chainsaw.

For Gomez/Zaragoza, the success had been in the offing for several months. They laid the groundwork for their victory in the first World Cup season for electric motocross bikes in the first two races of the year, both of which they won. In the double-header to end the year, two second places were enough for them to win the title. The final rounds took place as part of the Island X Prix of Extreme E in Sardinia.

Mixed competitions & season finale on Extreme E support bill

"We have been competitive from the outset and we are really thrilled to be taking the top step in this series," Zaragoza said after the weekend. And Gomez praised: "Jorge and I hahe been a good team. We have very different skills and have helped each other throughout this series with all the different terrains and courses. He has taught me how to manage the jumps and I have helped him with the trees."

In the series, men and women compete against each other in a mixed competition: On short off-road courses, each part of the team had to contest one lap each. The championship, supported by the world federation FIM, started in Catalonia in May and moved from there to the Swiss Alps to Crans-Montana. It then moved to the forested Auvergne region of central France and the sand dunes of Sardinia, where the E-Xplorer teamed up with Extreme E.

Late winning streak too little for Team Gravity

The championships have several things in common: they are both all-electric and are committed to sustainability and fighting climate change. Plus, who else, Alejandro Agag is part of the founding team of the two categories. "I think for Extreme E this is a great complimentary series," the Spaniard thinks. "We have some ‘down time’ in the middle of the day during our events and the whole of E-Xplorer - the races, the format, the messaging behind the sport - is very similar to the ethos behind Extreme. I welcome the chance to work closely with this series again. I am a huge supporter."

In the season finale, Gomez/Zaragoza, competing for Japanese team MIE, fended off a late charge from rivals Camille Chapeliere/Kiara Fontanesi. The Gravity duo won three races in a row in the home stretch of the season, beating MIE twice in Sardinia, but missed out on the title by ten championship points. Third place overall went to the MaddWill racing team, managed by Australian stuntman Robbie Maddison.

Valentin Guyonnet, co-founder of the E-Xplorer championship, looks back on the season and the final race with satisfaction. "It was great to work with Extreme E this weekend. It makes perfect sense for these two championships to complement each other and this weekend has really proved this. I hope this is the start of a number of such collaborations." However, it is currently uncertain what will happen with the E-Xplorer in 2024. The championship plans to announce plans for next season "in the coming weeks".

Championship standings & results: E-Xplorer Season 2023

 
Points system: P1: 25 points, P2: 20 points, P3: 16 points, P4: 13 points, P5: 11 points, P6: 10 points, P7: 9 points, P8: 8 points, P9: 7 points