the first Extreme E race has ended. Rosberg X Racing’s Johan Kristofferson and Molly Taylor (above) won the Desert X Prix in AlUla, Saudi Arabia, after fending off the two other teams that qualified for the final, Andretti United, second, and the X44 backed by Lewis Hamilton. There was a bit of drama involved – Rosberg’s team faced a one-minute speeding penalty in the driver change area, and fan-based grid selection put Andretti in United in a better starting position.
Other teams had their fair share of problems heading into the final, including crashes for Abt Cupra and Veloce Racing in qualifying.
You will have to wait a bit for the next race. The Ocean X Prix is scheduled to take place at Lac Rose in Senegal on May 29th and 30th.
Extreme E’s first successful competition is a big boost for the series after delays and canceled races threw away his schedule. It is also a milestone for off-road electric vehicle racing. While electric off-roaders have run before, they haven’t had a dedicated league with renowned teams and drivers (like Sébastien Loeb from X44) before. The biggest challenge now might be to keep that momentum going – like Formula E In its early days, Extreme E has yet to prove it can keep viewers coming back.
