Advertisement
Australia markets closed

  • ALL ORDS

    8,076.70
    +11.20 (+0.14%)
     

  • AUD/USD

    0.6563
    -0.0037 (-0.57%)
     

  • ASX 200

    7,804.50
    +11.20 (+0.14%)
     

  • OIL

    77.43
    -0.95 (-1.21%)
     

  • GOLD

    2,322.00
    -2.20 (-0.09%)
     

  • Bitcoin AUD

    95,089.27
    -1,871.24 (-1.93%)
     

  • CMC Crypto 200

    1,322.77
    +28.10 (+2.17%)
     

Extreme E's first race ends with a small amount of drama

It's a step forward for off-road electric racing.

Jon Fingas
·Reporter
·1-min read
Sam Bloxham

The first-ever Extreme E race has come to an end. Rosberg X Racing's Johan Kristofferson and Molly Taylor (shown above) have won the Desert X Prix in AlUla, Saudi Arabia after fending off the two other teams that made it to the final, second-place Andretti United and the Lewis Hamilton-backed X44. There was a modest amount of drama involved — the Rosberg team faced a minute-long penalty for speeding in the driver switch zone, and the fan-based grid selection put Andretti United in a better starting position.

Other teams had their share of problems before the finals, including crashes for Abt Cupra and Veloce Racing during the qualifiers.

You'll have to wait a while for the next race. The Ocean X Prix is due to take place in Senegal's Lac Rose on May 29th and May 30th.

ADVERTISEMENT

Extreme E's successful first competition is a big boost to the series after delays and cancelled races threw off its schedule. It's also a major milestone for off-road EV racing. While electric off-roaders have raced before, they haven't had a dedicated league with big-name teams and drivers (such as X44's Sebastien Loeb) before. The biggest challenge now might be to maintain that momentum — like Formula E in its early days, Extreme E still has to prove that it can keep viewers coming back.