Acciona Sainz avenged its roll in Saturday’s Desert X Prix final to win the second part of the Extreme E season opener in Saudi Arabia.
In what was a dominant performance in Sunday’s main event, Fraser McConnell got the holeshot from the start as he, along with two others, used the Hyperdrive power boost as soon as the start lights turned green. Rosberg X Racing’s Mikaela Ahlin-Kottulinsky saved her single use of the power boost for the approach to the turn at the second waypoint, however, which allowed her to sneak up the inside of E.ON Veloce Racing’s Molly Taylor.
Both rubbed doors, which allowed Andretti Altawkilat’s Timmy Hansen to slip past both for second. McConnell, free from the squabble behind, was able to eke out a 1.264s gap by the mid-race driver change, when he handed the car over to Laia Sanz. Catie Munnings, meanwhile, inherited the Andretti entry.
Behind Munnings, Kevin Hansen was now in the Veloce car and used his boost early in the lap to close up to his brother’s teammate, whom he was more than six seconds adrift of. Munnings, though, was more concerned with her charge for Sanz up front, and began her stint less than a second off the lead.
On the final lap, she gained a tenth in the first sector, but lost two in the next. The gap continued to increase for the remainder of the lap, even with Munnings using her Hyperdrive in the final stanza of the race.
Sanz eventually brought the Acciona Sainz car home with a 1.372s advantage, with Veloce a further 3.256s back. RXR took the fourth spot, having slowed early on following a heavy jump landing for Ahlin-Kottulinsky.
DESERT X PRIX II FINAL RESULTS
In the Redemption Race, Travis Pastrana’s pre-event aim to beat Mattias Ekstrom fell just short.
The Legacy Motor Club driver made a strong start to the race — a second start after an aborted first attempt following a roll for JBXE’s Dania Akeel after contact with NEOM McLaren’s Cristina Gutierrez. By the mid-race driver change, Pastrana handed off the Legacy M.C. car to Gray Leadbetter with a 4.018s lead over SUN Minimeal’s Timo Scheider, who made way for Klara Andersson.
But Ekstrom, now in the McLaren, wasn’t out of the fight. He got by Andersson up the inside at Waypoint 5, although she didn’t back down, immediately retaking the position, and it wasn’t until Waypoint 10 that Ekstom finally made the move stick.
He then set about hunting down Leadbetter. The 19-year-old put on an impressive performance to fend off the veteran DTM and World Rallycross champion, but in the end experience prevailed over youth, with Ekstrom edging past near the end of the final lap.
DESERT X PRIX II REDEMPTION RACE RESULTS
With a new rule change for 2024, a redemption race victory awards as many points as the last spot in the final, going some way to soften the blow of McLaren missing the final after appearing in it on Saturday.
A third place behind RXR and Veloce in the opening Q1 race wasn’t the best start to the day, while the team finished second to Andretti after losing a secure lead in the driver switch zone. Acciona Sainz was the other victor in the first round of qualifying, while RXR made it a preliminary round sweep with another victory in Q2.
With two rounds of the 2024 Extreme E season now in the books, RXR finds itself in a familiar position at the top of the points table. It’s a slender lead, however, with Acciona Sainz just two points off the lead and Veloce a further six points back.
Season 4 of Extreme E will resume in Europe on July 13-14.
Championship standings
1. Rosberg X Racing 41 points
2. ACCIONA | SAINZ XE Team 39 points
3. E.ON Veloce Racing 33 points
4. Andretti Altawkilat Extreme E 31 points
5. NEOM McLaren Extreme E Team 30 points
6. LEGACY MOTOR CLUB IN ASSOCIATION WITH JIMMIE JOHNSON 18 points
7. SUN Minimeal Team 10 points
8. JBXE 10 points