JBXE Racing on Friday confirmed that Kevin Hansen will drive for the side in Extreme E's upcoming Ocean X Prix which is all set to take place in Lac Rose in Dakar, Senegal, while Jenson Button will be focusing on his role as Team Principal for this X Prix.
Kevin Hansen got associated with the series in 2019, when he joined the Drivers’ Programme and has been instrumental in the testing process along with teammate Mikaela Åhlin-Kottulinsky, and his brother, and Andretti United driver, Timmy Hansen. The three were the first to drive the ODYSSEY 21 at Chataeu de Lastours in France, back in 2019.
Kevin has been featuring in the FIA World Rallycross Championship for many years, registering event victories and multiple podiums for Team Peugeot-Hansen.
The 22-year-old Swedish racer, earlier in his career, clinched the 2015 RX2 title and bagged the 2016 FIA Rookie of the Year award for best up-and-coming driver across the governing body’s championships after his victory at the FIA European Rallycross Championship that year. He is the youngest driver ever to do so.
Jenson Button, Founder of JBXE said: “I’m delighted to announce that an opportunity has arisen for Kevin Hansen to compete for JBXE in Senegal. I’m obviously wearing two hats with JBXE as both a driver, but also team owner, and it’s the latter which means having the opportunity to put Kevin in the car for this race was one I didn’t want to pass up. Brother of course to Timmy Hansen and son to Rallycross legend, Kenneth Hansen, Kevin has a fantastic pedigree and has already achieved so much in the world of rallycross at such a young age. He’s an exciting driver and I can’t wait to see him representing JBXE in Senegal and I look forward to being back behind the wheel in Greenland.”
Kevin Hansen, JBXE driver said: “I’m really excited to join Formula One World Champion Jenson Button and his JBXE team for the Extreme E X Prix – it's a huge opportunity.
“I've been so involved in the series and developing the car since the beginning, from the early testing programme right to Aragon last year, so to get this opportunity now with Jenson is so nice and I'm super excited to get to Senegal and see what I can do.
“I’m so happy to be joining Mikaela also. I hope together we can be strong as I believe she is one of the strongest drivers in the championship and I've known her for a very long time. She's very talented so this is a huge opportunity for us to be working together, and we have so much history in sharing the car together so it is going to be nice to be with her in this event, and I think we can do a good job together.”
His teammate for Senegal, Mikaela Åhlin-Kottulinsky, added: “I’m so excited to be racing with Kevin in the Ocean X Prix, he is super eager to have some good results so I think this will be a great collaboration. We are actually doing some driving practice in Sweden in the coming days.
“I’ve known Kevin since we were around 10 years old as we have raced together in the Swedish National Team and worked together in developing the Extreme E car over the last couple of years. We’ve actually raced against each other too in Rallycross so I’m looking forward to getting some good results with Kevin.”
The all-Swedish driver line-up is all set to compete at the Ocean X Prix taking place from 29-30 May in Dakar, Senegal. JBXE currently ranks sixth in the overall standings following the first X Prix in Saudi Arabia in April.
