One year on from a dramatic upturn in form that saw it end the Extreme E season with a podium and a win, Abt Cupra finds itself in a similar position.
In 2022, Klara Andersson was drafted in with two events to spare. The Swede immediately helped the team to its first podium on her debut, then a win in the season finale in Uruguay. This time around, after nine-time World Rally champion Sebastien Loeb joined mid-season, the team left the penultimate event of the year as the highest-scoring team after taking its first two podiums of the season, and now heads to the finale looking to win once again.
“I think this weekend the team performed super well,” Andersson told RACER after last weekend’s second Island X-Prix doubleheader in Sardinia. “We had a perfect car, we had all the right setups, the strategy … me and Seb really had the rhythm and were fast all weekend. I think with two podiums, the team scoring the most points, we can’t be unhappy.”
Ever competitive though, Andersson hinted disappointment at missing out on a victory, although the claim was betrayed by the smile on her face.
“We didn’t have any washer fluid in the final so we were more or less blind, the whole final. We really wanted to fight for the victory, but with that it was too difficult,” she said. “It’s still good to come away with a podium.
“I think with everything that has gone against us this year … we have been super strong all year, the pace has really been there and things that we can’t affect we can’t really be sorry about, [but] it’s still a shame because I felt we deserved a podium at least two three times this year already,” she said. “Crashes, track conditions and so on, you can’t affect so the only thing we can do is to always try to do our best, be as fast as possible, have the best car and just go in with a positive feeling.”
Since July’s first trip to Sardinia, Andersson has been racing alongside reigning Extreme E champion Loeb, who replaced double WRC2 champion and five-time Dakar Rally winner Nasser Al-Attiyah. Andersson has regularly competed against Loeb in World Rallycross this year, a mutual experience that aided their partnership.
“Since we know each other from rallycross, we already had a good feeling with each other and we knew we knew a bit of how we drive and how we go into a weekend,” Andersson said of Loeb. “We are very similar the way we look at things we know we can only affect what we can affect. And we usually have the same strategy also on track, we understand what each other means when we discuss the car, we will often say the same things and it really it’s great support.
“I mean, he’s a nine-time world champion who is also champion in this series. I learned so much.”
After the strong points haul, Abt Cupra is riding a wave. It came into the second Sardinia event claiming to have “unfinished business” after a strong showing in Loeb’s first appearance for the team, and while the identity of Andersson’s teammate for the final two championship rounds is currently unconfirmed, a similar feeling remains ahead of the finale in Chile at the start of December.
“Now since we have the good vibes and good spirits in the team, you want to race again as soon as possible,” Andersson said. “So yeah, let’s try and do the homework and come back even stronger in Chile.
“Between all the rounds. I always rewatch everything — all the details, all the timing sheets — and really try to take away everything I can from every weekend. So I learned even more about new overtaking opportunities, new use of the hyperdrive [push-to-pass boost] or where you can gain time, where you can lose time and even changes in the setup. So especially now that we have such a long break, we really have the time to be as prepared as possible.
“I really liked the Chile track, and I have some good memories,” Andersson added. “I made my debut there last year with the podium … We had some unfinished business coming into this weekend, but I still feel we have unfinished business because we want the victory this year.”