Extreme E News

Extreme E: Rosberg X Racing wins Saturday's race at the Copper X Prix in Chile & takes the overall lead

Tobias Wirtz

Tobias Wirtz

Sam Bloxham / Extreme E

Mikaela Ahlin-Kottulinsky and Johan Kristoffersson (Rosberg X Racing) secured victory on Saturday in the final Extreme E event of 2023. They defeated the Acciona Sainz driver duo Laia Sanz and Mattias Ekström in the final, while Cristina Gutierrez and Fraser McConnell finished third for X44. In the overall standings, Rosberg X Racing takes a big step towards the title and will only be fighting for the championship with Acciona Sainz in tomorrow's race.

Qualifying 1

Heat 1

The Extreme E qualifying in Chile also took place in two sections, with two heat races with five participants each. The teams Acciona Sainz, JBXE, Rosberg X Racing, Veloce Racing and Neom McLaren lined up on the starting line for the first heat. In all five teams, the male driver took the start, and after two laps they handed over the wheel to their female team mates.

Championship leader Mattias Ekström started the race from the outside and was therefore at a disadvantage at the start. Kevin Hansen took the lead with an aggressive manoeuvre against Johan Kristoffersson, who then had to defend himself against Tanner Foust. Both collided and lost a lot of ground. Sainz driver Ekström took over second place, but touched the Rosberg car in the process.

Then came the shock for the championship leaders: Ekström suddenly slowed down and had to stop the car on track. However, Rosberg X Racing was not in a position to capitalise on this: Kristoffersson had suffered a puncture on the left rear tyre as a result of the collision with Foust, drove into the switch zone at slow speed and had to have the tyre changed. He lost almost an entire lap on the way.

Nothing happened at the front on the second lap, Hansen took a five-second lead into the driver switch. After the collision, Tanner Foust had worked his way back past Andreas Bakkerud, who drove into the switch zone a further five seconds behind. Race control imposed a ten-second time penalty on McLaren for causing the collision with Rosberg X Racing.

After the female drivers had taken over, Molly Taylor extended her lead and drove home a commanding victory. Tamara Molinaro reduced the gap to Hedda Hosas to three seconds, but was classified second due to the penalty for McLaren. Behind her, Mikaela Ahlin-Kottulinsky focussed on setting the fastest time in the Continental Traction Challenge and crossed the finish line in fourth place, more than four minutes behind McLaren.

Results: 1st Veloce, 2nd JBXE, 3rd McLaren, 4th RXR, 5th Sainz

Heat 2

The five male driver also took the start in the second race, which was contested by X44 Vida Carbon Racing, ABT Cupra, Carl Cox Motorsport, Andretti Altawkilat and Chip Ganassi Racing. Timo Scheider won the start, followed by Timmy Hansen and Fraser McConnell, who was attacked by RJ Anderson. The X44 driver stayed in front, with off-road newcomer Adrien Tambay struggling to keep up behind the other drivers.

Scheider was unable to build a gap to the drivers behind and was under pressure from Hansen and McConnell. Behind them, Anderson rolled over as a result of a mistake after hitting a wall on the inside of the corner. Chip Ganassi Racing was thus eliminated.

The positions initially remained unchanged during the driver switch. In the corner where Anderson's crashed car was parked, race control called a slow zone. At the end of this slow zone, Lia Block missed the moment when she was allowed to accelerate again and fell behind Munnings and Gutierrez. Shortly afterwards, Gutierrez also passed Munnings with a strong manoeuvre and took the lead.

Amazing overtake from @crisgutierrez to take the lead in Q1 H2! ? @TeamX44 are still in the hunt for the title ?#ExtremeE #CopperXPrix pic.twitter.com/03wsfREeQh

Klara Andersson had caught up with Lia Block behind and pushed past. However, Andersson made a mistake on the last corner and went off the track, losing third place back to Block again.

Results: 1st X44, 2nd Andretti, 3rd Carl Cox, 4th ABT, 5th CGR

Qualifying 2

Heat 1

In Heat 1, the teams from Acciona Sainz, ABT Cupra, Veloce, Andretti and McLaren competed. Now, the female drivers from all teams drove at the start. Molly Taylor took the lead ahead of Laia Sanz and Catie Munnings, followed by Klara Andersson and Hedda Hosas. After a contact with Hosas, Andersson rolled over several times. Race control interrupted the race with a red flag. Andersson was taken to the medical centre for examination, but was allowed to leave after a few minutes.

Dramatic end to Q2 H1 for Klara Andersson!

Big roll and a red flag ? #ExtremeE #CopperXPrix pic.twitter.com/Do5UZsGuKj

At the restart, with only four cars still in contention, Taylor again took the lead ahead of Sanz and Munnings. At the end of the first lap, Taylor suffered a broken right front suspension. Sanz passed her, and right behind a corner Munnings, who was approaching with a large speed advantage, collided with Taylor. The Andretti car rolled over several times and came to rest on its roof. As a result, both cars were no longer roadworthy and race control interrupted the heat again. Munnings was taken to hospital for examination.

Q2 H1: Taylor slows and Munnings runs into the back of the Veloce.

The session is red flagged ? #ExtremeE #CopperXPrix pic.twitter.com/fdncm2htMl

The race resumed with two cars remaining, Sanz handed the car over to Mattias Ekström in the lead. The latter drove home the victory against Tanner Foust, but subsequently received a time penalty of 15 seconds as Laia Sanz had used the hyperdrive twice. The Spaniard's sector time in the Continental Traction Challenge was also cancelled. Foust therefore won the heat for McLaren.

The race stewards decided after the heat, however, that Hedda Hosas was at fault for the collision with Klara Andersson. McLaren was therefore classified fifth and last. This decision was reversed an hour later, and instead McLaren only received a 30-second time penalty, putting the team in second place.

Result: 1st Sainz, 2nd McLaren, 3rd Veloce, 4th Andretti, 5th ABT

Heat 2

Heat 2 was contested by X44, Rosberg X Racing, JBXE, Carl Cox Motorsport and Chip Ganassi Racing, who had to fall back on the race series' spare chassis after Anderson's rollover. As a result, the team received a 30-second time penalty, which had to be served during the driver switch.

Cristina Gutierrez took the lead ahead of Mikaela Ahlin-Kottulinsky. Behind them were Lia Block, Tamara Molinaro and Amanda Sorensen. The drivers entered the switch zone in this order. Rosberg's driver switch was a little quicker than X44's, so Johan Kristoffersson returned to the track immediately behind Fraser McConnell. Timo Scheider was in third place, but quickly lost touch with the leading duo, where Kristoffersson kept the pressure high.

Q2 H2: Kristoffersson gets it from McConnell!

What a move! ?#ExtremeE #CopperXPrix pic.twitter.com/WeEdKZsl42

Just before the end of the third lap, Kristoffersson overtook McConnell and was able to put a few car lengths between himself and the X44 car. Behind them, Scheider, Bakkerud and Anderson, who had fallen far behind due to the time penalty, each drove a lonely race. Kristofferrson won the heat and thus secured a point for his team in the championship fight and a place in the final.

Results: 1st RXR, 2nd X44, 3rd Carl Cox, 4th JBXE, 5th CGR

Qualifying result at the Copper X Prix

Pos. Team Points Q1 Points Q2 Total points
1 X44 10 8 18
2 Veloce 10 6 16
3 RXR 4 10 14
4 McLaren 6 8 14
5 Sainz 2 10 12
6 Carl Cox 6 6 12
7 JBXE 8 4 12
8 Andretti 8 4 12
9 ABT 4 2 6
10 CGR 2 2 4

 

Redemption Race

In the Redemption Race, ABT, JBXE, Andretti, Carl Cox and CGR took the last five positions of the first race day. However, ABT and Andretti were unable to take part after the accidents in qualifying, meaning that only three cars were on the grid.

Timo Scheider got off to a good start to take the lead ahead of Andreas Bakkerud, with RJ Anderson following at some distance. But the JBXE driver slowed down in the second sector and lost a lot of ground, with Anderson taking over second place. Scheider drove into the switch zone with a lead of around ten seconds, Bakkerud had already lost 35 seconds.

Lia Block extended her lead over Amanda Sorenson to more than 15 seconds after the driver switch, Tamara Molinaro parked the JBXE car, which was obviously struggling with technical problems, on the last lap, but was still classified third.

Results: 1st Carl Cox, 2nd CGR, 3rd JBXE

Final

The top five teams from qualifying qualified for the final. The Grid Play voting decided which teams were allowed to choose their grid position first. The two championship favourites RXR and Acciona Sainz started the X Prix on the outside lanes, while Veloce Racing opted to start from the centre. However, the start for the team was on a knife-edge, as the car was only ready shortly before the finale after the crash in the qualifying.

Ekström took the lead from McConnell at the start, but Kristoffersson overtook the Jamaican after the first corner. Kevin Hansen only made it a few metres, as his car had not been brought to the start completely ready to race. The positions did not change again until the driver switch, but Kristoffersson entered the switch zone alongside Ekström, with the other two cars following less than four seconds behind. Ekström cut back inside the switch zone and was ahead of Kristoffersson again.

Due to a quicker driver change - Laia Sanz had taken over the cockpit too late due to the poor visibility because of the dust - Mikaela Ahlin-Kottulinsky took the lead after the driver switch, but Sanz and Gutierrez followed with a minimal gap. Hedda Hosas in the McLaren was unable to keep up the pace and lost a few seconds on the top three. Sanz put Ahlin-Kottulinsky under big pressure, but was unable to get past. Alin-Kottulinsky won the race ahead of Sainz and Gutierrez.

Result: 1st RXR, 2nd Sainz, 3rd X44, 4th McLaren, 5th Veloce

In the overall standings, Rosberg X Racing took the lead ahead of Acciona Sainz thanks to the victory and the additional two points for the Continental Traction Challenge. Only these two teams can still win the championship

Overall standings

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