Nico Rosberg's RXR team overall winner in first season of Extreme E off-road series for electric SUVs

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Nico Rosberg’s RXR team overall winner in first season of Extreme E off-road series for electric SUVs

Nico Rosberg, Formula 1 World Champion in 2016, can add another title to his name – the first champion of the Extreme E series. His team (but he did not drive) – Rosberg X Racing (RXR) – claimed the title after finishing fourth in the season-ending Jurassic X Prix in the UK recently. Despite finishing level on 155 points with Jurassic X Prix winners X44, RXR’s Johan Kristoffersson and Molly Taylor took the championship due to having more X Prix victories, with 3 wins from 5 events.

Sebastien Loeb and Cristina Gutierrez finally took their first Extreme E win at their fifth attempt, as well as 5 extra points for being fastest through the Continental Traction Challenge at the wet and muddy course.

With 5 cars vying for position to get the best traction and grip off the line in the final, the start was crucial. It was the championship contenders who got the best getaway, with X44’s Gutierrez flying into the lead ahead of RXR’s Taylor, and then JBXE’s Mikaela Ahlin-Kottulinsky, Andretti United Extreme E’s Catie Munnings and ACCIONA | Sainz XE Team’s Laia Sanz fighting for positions behind.

As Gutierrez began to pull away from the chasing pack, the tension began to grow in the RXR team as Taylor fell into the clutches of those behind, losing places to Ahlin-Kottulinsky and Munnings to slip back to fourth, just ahead of Sanz in fifth place. This was dangerous territory for RXR, who needed to finish fourth or higher to claim the title.

The battle for third place in the standings was similarly competitive – with just a point separating JBXE and Andretti United Extreme E ahead of the Jurassic X Prix. Their closely fought contest continued as Munnings closed in on Ahlin-Kottulinsky, but there was drama as they both attempted to enter the Driver Switch Zone, with contact between the pair sending Munnings into a spin.

Fortunately, she was able to get going again and retain third place, such was the pace advantage the leading trio had over RXR and ACCIONA | Sainz XE Team. The order was maintained after the driver switch, with Loeb preserving X44’s lead over JBXE’s Kevin Hansen in second and Andretti United Extreme E’s Timmy Hansen in third.

The stage was set for Kristoffersson and Carlos Sainz Snr. to fight it out for the title-deciding fourth place finish, but it was a battle which fizzled out after problems in the Driver Switch Zone meant ACCIONA | Sainz XE Team lost ground. This gave RXR breathing space in their bid to score the crucial points needed to seal the championship.

“We are really happy with the first Extreme E season. It has not been easy in the middle of a pandemic, but we have delivered five X Prix events, and the Finale in Dorset, UK produced some spectacular racing. Since our first event in Saudi Arabia, we have had a lot of eventful and incredible moments ending in a brilliant title decider today,” said Alejandro Agag, Founder and CEO of Extreme E. “We are now looking forward to what we hope will be a fantastic Season 2.”