Following three action-packed races in Saudi Arabia, Senegal and Greenland, the Extreme E paddock arrived in Sardinia for the Enel X Island X Prix all set to tackle a course widely expected to be the most technically challenging of the season so far.
it was X44’s Sébastien Loeb and Cristina Gutiérrez who ended Saturday qualifying ahead of the pack. Despite an off-course excursion for Gutiérrez during her Qualifying 1 lap, the #44 squad’s overall pace in the morning session ensured they topped the timesheets maintaining their 100 per cent record as fastest qualifiers. A trouble-free Qualifying 2 run meant for an even faster time in the afternoon session, ensuring Gutiérrez and four-time Sardinian Rally winner Loeb headed the field once more and confirmed their fourth-consecutive top qualifier spot.
After looking quick in Free Practice, Veloce Racing backed that up with an impressive Qualifying 1 as Stéphane Sarrazin and Emma Gilmour enjoyed a clear run to secure the third fastest time. However, their progress was curtailed in the afternoon session as Sarrazin suffered significant damage out on the course, meaning the team were unable to set a Qualifying 2 time and ended the overall qualifying classification in eight.
“It was a disappointing end to our day after such a great start,” said Gilmour. “We were all really happy with our pace this morning, Stéphane and I were driving well together and improving the car. We were in a strong position so when the car just broke in Q2 it was so disappointing for the team.
“Obviously now we end up in the crazy race which means we have one shot at getting through to the final. I’m going to be first in the car so it’s going to be a really important start tomorrow morning, we need to pick the right line and attack hard so bring it on!”
X44, SEGI TV Chip Ganassi Racing and Andretti United Extreme E progress through to Semi-Final 1 while Rosberg X Racing, ABT CUPRA XE and ACCIONA | Sainz XE Team go through to Semi-Final 2 with the top two from each race booking a slot on the grid for the Final. The Crazy Race will feature the bottom three teams – JBXE, Veloce Racing and XITE ENERGY RACING – with the winner earning themselves a place in the Final. With each Semi-Final now offering the opportunity to make it to the Final, it’s all to play for on finals day at the Enel X Island X Prix.
Qualifying points classification*
1/ X44 (Sébastien Loeb / Cristina Gutiérrez) 18 points
2/ Rosberg X Racing (Johan Kristoffersson / Molly Taylor) 11 points
3/ ABT CUPRA XE (Mattias Ekström / Jutta Kleinschmidt) 11 points
4/ ACCIONA | Sainz XE Team (Carlos Sainz / Laia Sanz) 10 points
5/ SEGI TV Chip Ganassi Racing (Kyle LeDuc / Sara Price) 9 points
6/ Andretti United Extreme E (Timmy Hansen / Catie Munnings) 9 points
7/ JBXE (Kevin Hansen / Mikaela Åhlin-Kottulinsky) 9 points
8/ Veloce Racing (Stéphane Sarrazin / Emma Gilmour) 8 points
9/ XITE ENERGY RACING powered by myenergi (Oliver Bennett / Christine Giampaoli Zonca) 5 points
*Qualifying points classification is a provisional result
Semi-Final 1: X44, SEGI TV Chip Ganassi Racing and Andretti United Extreme E
Semi-Final 2: Rosberg X Racing, ABT CUPRA XE and ACCIONA | Sainz XE Team
Crazy Race: JBXE, Veloce Racing and XITE ENERGY RACING
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