X44 Vida Carbon Racing claimed its second win of the Extreme E season in the second half of the Island X Prix II, dominating a final which came after all of the main championship protagonists hit some sort of trouble.
Starting for the Lewis Hamilton-backed team, Fraser McConnell took a wide line into the first turn to sweep past Rosberg X Racing’s Johan Kristoffersson and Sebastien Loeb of Abt Cupra as that pair squabbled for real estate in the center of the track.
The battle with Loeb dropped Kristoffersson back, but he carved his way through the field to rescue a second-place finish. First up he took on GMC Hummer EV Chip Ganassi Racing’s RJ Anderson, setting up a move through the first Waypoint of the second lap by taking a wide approach — so wide he took out a sponsor sign — before swooping up the inside on the corner apex.
Next he hunted down Loeb, who was struggling with visibility issues with broken windshield wipers. A moment for Loeb at Waypoint 7 on the second lap allowed Kristoffersson to close right up, and he made the move four gates later with another high-speed charge up the inside.
X44’s clean start proved to be decisive though as they remained unchallenged throughout, with Cristina Gutierrez bringing the car home 5.813s clear of RXR’s Mikaela Ahlin-Kottulinsky after taking the wheel at the mid-race driver change.
Klara Andersson persevered through the same visibility issues that cost Loeb a shot at the lead early on to bring the Abt Cupra entry home third, while Amanda Sorensen finished fourth for Ganassi.
JBXE took fifth after retiring from the final, Andreas Bakkerud pulling off the course with suspension damage moments after taking over from Hedda Hosas.
Island X Prix II (Round 8) Final
- X44 Vida Carbon Racing 10m 08.030s
- Rosberg X Racing +5.813
- Abt Cupra +8.621
- GMC Hummer EV Chip Ganassi Racing +13.856
- JBXE DNF
Notably absent from the final was Acciona Sainz and Veloce Racing, the two main championship contenders this season.
Acciona Sainz, whose drivers Mattias Ekstrom and Lia Sanz won on Saturday, started Sunday strongly with a qualifying heat win, but water damage to a battery connector in their second heat left them retired and contesting the consolation Redemption Race instead.
Veloce’s day was even more disappointing, with power steering gremlins causing trouble at every stage of the competition. A retirement in the first qualifying heat was followed by a third-place finishes in their Q2 heat, albeit almost five minutes adrift of race winner Ganassi after going off course early on after contact with Acciona Sainz, before the power steering problems reoccurred, severely hampering Molly Taylor and Kevin Hansen’s fightback.
Nevertheless, they were able to reclaim some points with a win in the Redemption Race, dominating in similar fashion to X44 in the main, grabbing the lead off the start then pulling away from the rest of the pack.
Andretti Altawkilat took second in the Redemption Race, with Carl Cox third and Acciona Sainz fourth, their pace slowed by windshield wiper damage that hindered visibility.
McLaren was absent throughout the day after withdrawing due to damage sustained in crashes on Friday and Saturday. The team was on site on Sunday, however, using the time to build an entirely new car ahead of the season finale in Chile in December.
Island X Prix II (Round 8) Redemption Race
- Veloce Racing 9m 39.903
- Andretti Altawkilat +6.099
- Carl Cox Motorsport +10.469
- Acciona Sainz +56.474
- NEOM McLaren DNS
Despite missing the main on Sunday, Acciona Sainz leaves Sardinia with the points lead with one event, two rounds to go. RXR sits in second, a mere three points behind, with Veloce still in the hunt in third, 21 points back.
Extreme E championship standings after Round 8
- Acciona Sainz 139 pts
- Rosberg X Racing 136 pts
- Veloce Racing 118 pts
- GMC Hummer EV Chip Ganassi Racing 99 pts
- X44 Vida Carbon Racing 87 pts
- Abt Cupra XE 75 pts
- Andretti Altawkilat 71 pts
- NEOM McLaren 45 pts
- JBXE 42 pts
- Carl Cox Motorsport 40 pts