Facts & Figures: Statistics on the 2023 Copper X Prix of Extreme E in Chile

The electric off-road series Extreme E concluded its 2023 season last weekend with its fifth X Prix. Rosberg X Racing (Saturday) and Veloce Racing (Sunday) came out on top in the two races of the double-header, RXR celebrated the title. We take a close look at the third season of the Copper X Prix and compile all the interesting statistics.

Statistical highlights of the Copper X Prix

• Rosberg X Racing was crowned Extreme E champion on Sunday for the second time after 2021.
• Rosberg X Racing and Veloce Racing each won their third race of the Extreme E season in Chile.
• For Rosberg X Racing, it was also the eighth race win in the series - a record!
• Saturday's second place was the ninth podium finish in total for Acciona Sainz, the sixth of the season.
• Veloce Racing's race win on Sunday was the sixth podium in the team's history, including five in 2023 alone.
• After its two third places in Chile, Team X44 now has a total of ten podium finishes in Extreme E.
• Rosberg X Racing is the only team to have reached the final in all ten races this season. The team did never compete in the Redemption Race.
  
• RXR won the bonus points in the Continental Traction Challenge on Saturday - for the first time since the 2022 Island X Prix. The team had previously come away empty-handed in ten consecutive races in this category.
• The "Continental Traction Challenge" on Sunday went to X44. The team secured the bonus points for the fifth time in total - more than anyone else.
• At least one driver from Sweden has stood on the podium in all races in 2023. This means that there has not been a single race in the first 20 rounds of the series without Swedish participation in the podium ceremony.
• JBXE has never stood on the podium this season - the only one of the ten teams to do so. Jenson Button's team last took part in the podium ceremony at the first race of the 2022 Island X Prix.

Continental Traction Challenge

The "Continental Traction Challenge" section, in which the fastest team can earn two additional championship points per race day, was once again measured at the Copper X Prix as a separate sector with its own timekeeping in addition to the three usual track sectors. As has been customary since 2022, it was not the team with the fastest individual time in this sector that won, but the best cumulative team time of driver and rider.

In Chile, Rosberg X Racing on Saturday and X44 Vida Carbon Racing on Sunday came out on top in this category. X44 driver Fraser McConnell set the fastest individual time in the special section ahead of RXR driver Johan Kristoffersson.

Best sector & lap times

The best regular sector times came from Johan Kristoffersson from Rosberg X Racing and Kevin Hansen from Andretti Altawkilat. Kristoffersson also set the fastest lap overall at the Copper X Prix. Apart from the best time in the Continental Traction Challenge, all top times were set on Saturday.

The best times in the first section of the circuit were all set on the lap after the driver switch. The reason: the drivers were able to take a shortcut after the Switch Zone and set faster times than on the much longer route around the track.

Team-internal lap time comparison

Comparing lap times between drivers from the same team is also much easier at the Copper X Prix than at most other races, as all drivers completed two laps each due to the relatively short track. After the second lap, they had to steer into the Switch Zone, where a speed limit of 30 km/h applied. We therefore added up the drivers' best sector times.

The figures show that only one woman was faster than her male team-mate in Chile: Klara Andersson in the ABT Cupra took just under a second off her team-mate Adrien Tambay, who was competing in his first off-road race. Positions 1 to 7 were occupied by male drivers. On average, the men set a best time of 1:40.569 minutes, the women of 1:42.853 minutes.

The biggest gap was at RXR between Johan Kristoffersson and Mikaela Ahlin-Kottulinsky. But the gap between the drivers at McLaren, X44, Chip Ganassi and Veloce was also more than three seconds. Catie Munnings came particularly close to her team-mate at Andretti: the Brit was just 0.36 seconds behind Timmy Hansen. However, the Swede only drove a single session before the car was so badly damaged in an accident that Andretti was unable to continue.

Gender ranking

Who were the fastest men and the fastest women at the Copper X Prix? We have calculated an overall lap time based on the best personal sector times. Johan Kristoffersson was just ahead in the men's race. In the women's category, on the other hand, Laia Sanz clearly beat Cristina Gutierrez and Molly Taylor.

Ranking riders

Ranking female riders

Time in the Switch Zone

An additional challenge in Extreme E is the driver swap. For safety reasons, the first driver may only release the seatbelts once the vehicle has come to a standstill and is in neutral position. At least 45 seconds must then elapse before shifting back into forward gear. The fastest driver swap at the Copper X Prix was achieved by the Rosberg X Racing team.