Extreme E News

Desert X Prix: Ahlin-Kottulinsky & Kristoffersson win on Saturday, Munnings & Bakkerud on Sunday

Tobias Wirtz

Tobias Wirtz

Aemilia Cumberland / Extreme E

Mikaela Ahlin-Kottulinsky and Johan Kristoffersson lived up to their role as favourites on the first day of racing at the Desert X Prix. After a collision with their main rivals Laia Sanz and Fraser McConnell from Team Acciona Sainz, the way was clear for the 2023 champions in the Grand Final. On Sunday, however, Catie Munnings and Andreas Bakkerud won for Hansen Motorsport after a penalty for the actual race winner Jameel Motorsport.

Saturday: Ahlin-Kottulinsky & Kristoffersson win, Taylor injured after rollover

Even in the qualifying heats, everything pointed to a duel between Team KMS with Mikaela Ahlin-Kottulinsky and Johan Kristoffersson on one side and Acciona Sainz with Laia Sanz and Fraser McConnell on the other. Both won one heat and took second place in the other. In addition to these two teams, the other two winners of the other heats also progressed to the Grand Final: Catie Munnings and Andreas Bakkerud for Team Hansen and Hedda Hosas and Ole Christian Veiby for Team EVEN.

For Molly Taylor from Team Jameel Motorsport, the race day was already over after the first qualifying heat: The Australian rolled over, injuring her left arm and had to be taken to hospital for further examination. As the chassis was irreparably damaged in the accident, Jameel Motorsport had to resort to a replacement chassis and missed the second qualifying heat.

Redemption Race: Hansen & Schönborn win convincingly

In the Redemption Race, where positions five to eight were at stake, Jameel Motorsport was joined by STARD with Amanda Sorenson and Patrick O'Donovan, JBX Powered by Team Monaco with Christine GZ and Tommi Hallman and Carl Cox Motorsport with Klara Andersson and Timo Scheider. Kevin Hansen from Jameel Motorsport secured the top position immediately after the start and handed over the wheel to reserve driver Claire Schönborn in the lead.

The German extended her lead further and further and ultimately drove the race home with a seven-second advantage. Second place went to JBX, who crossed the line 0.078 seconds ahead of STARD. For Carl Cox Motorsport, only 4th place remained after Klara Andersson spun in the battle with Christine GZ for second position. A lot of dirt collected on her windscreen due to the close pursuit on the waterlogged track, Andersson misjudged and lost a lot of ground as a result.

Grand Final: Sanz out after crash at the start, Kristoffersson penalised

In the Grand Final, Sanz had the best start and initially took the lead, but was hit by Kristoffersson in the second corner. The rear right suspension on the Spaniard's car broke, she drove back to the pits at a slow speed and parked the car. Kristoffersson drove into the switch zone with a lead of around four seconds over Veiby, with Bakkerud following a further nine seconds behind.

Ahlin-Kottulinsky quickly extended his lead over Hosas after the driver changeover and subsequently controlled the race. Hosas also controlled the clear lead over Munnings, so that all three finished in these positions with a clear gap between them. Even a subsequent time penalty of five seconds for the race winners for the collision on lap 1 did nothing to change the result.

Sunday: Hansen Motorsport wins final XE race, debacle for Acciona Sainz

The first piece of good news came before Sunday's qualifying session: Taylor was declared fit to race after another medical examination and resumed her place at Jameel Motorsport. With first place in the first qualifying heat and second place in the second, she immediately showed that she had made a full recovery, and the team confidently advanced to the Grand Final. Once again, the four winning teams prevailed in the four individual heats: alongside Jameel Motorsport, these were Team EVEN, Hansen Motorsport and KMS.

After KMS had only managed third place in the first heat due to a technical problem, Ahlin-Kottulinsky and Kristoffersson won the second heat and thus advanced to the Grand Final. Team EVEN even managed to qualify after finishing fourth in the first heat with another technical problem – in the end, the best time in the super sector tipped the scales in their favour over the two teams from Carl Cox Motorsport and JBX, who were tied on qualifying points.

However, there was no good result for Acciona Sainz: After finishing third in the first heat, there was another retirement in the second heat when McConnell went off the track, hit a rock and was unable to continue the race. As the left front suspension on his car was completely torn off, the team was also unable to start in the Redemption Race. STARD finished fourth in both qualifying heats and was therefore at the bottom of the qualifying points table.

Redemption Race

After McConnell's accident in qualifying, only three cars started the Redemption Race, with all three teams fielding female drivers. GZ took the lead at the start ahead of Sorensen and Andersson. While the JBX driver pulled away, the other two battled for second place. Andersson pushed past Sorenson, who slowed down significantly shortly afterwards. GZ entered the switch zone with a ten-second lead. Hallman controlled the race, which was completely uneventful in the second half, and won ahead of Scheider. O'Donovan brought the STARD car home in P3, 50 seconds behind.

Grand Final

The female drivers were also behind the wheel at the start of the Grand Final. Taylor took the lead at the start, while Hosas and Ahlin-Kottulinsky collided on the approach to the first corner. The KMS driver hit the track barrier, causing her car to be lifted off the ground and roll over twice, but it landed back on its wheels. However, Hosas' car was also no longer roadworthy, so the race subsequently consisted of a duel between Jameel Motorsport and Team Hansen.

Taylor was unable to pull away from Munnings. Both drove into the switch zone immediately behind each other, so their teammates now had to make the decision: Hansen for Jameel Motorsport against Bakkerud for Hansen Motorsport – the team of Kevin Hansen's own family. Hansen increased his lead over Bakkerud to more than three seconds, but then missed the beginning of the yellow zone, where the two parked cars from KMS and Team EVEN were located. His lead thus increased to more than seven seconds, which he maintained until the finish.

However, Jameel Motorsport received a three-minute time penalty for violating the 30 km/h speed limit in the yellow zone – the race stewards recorded a speed of 90 km/h. Bakkerud was also too fast there at 48.3 km/h, but his time penalty was only 18.3 seconds.

In the end, Hansen Motorsport won by a margin of 2:34 minutes. For Munnings, it was her second Extreme E victory and the first one since the 2021 Arctic X Prix. Bakkerud celebrated his first victory and his first ever podium finish in the racing series. KMS was classified third after the race stewards investigated the start accident and decided that Hosas was to blame for the accident.

Go back

0 Comments

Add a comment

Please calculate 9 plus 2.