London: Rosberg X Racing drivers Johan Kristoffersson and Molly Taylor emerged victorious yet again at Extreme E’s second X Prix in Lac Rose, Dakar, Senegal (29/30 May) with the brilliant duo overcoming high pressure from their adversaries to be crowned Champions of Extreme's first-ever Ocean X prix.
The pioneering off road racing event featured high drama in the grand final as two of the four cars retired at the first corner, leaving Rosberg X Racing to extend their championship lead and Veloce Racing to notch up a surprise result, bouncing from their nightmare Desert X Prix.
The all-star field of Extreme E drivers took on the tight and technical Ocean X Prix course and yielded close racing and several options for alternate routes which were deployed throughout the two days of the X Prix.
Segi TV Chip Ganassi Racing’s Kyle LeDuc took the Super Sector title, bagging an extra five points for his side, setting the fastest time of 1m50.891s – 1.289 seconds ahead of X44’s Sébastien Loeb.
Nico Rosberg, Founder and CEO of Rosberg X Racing, said: “I’m so happy for us as a team to have won in Extreme E for the second time. Two out of two – wow!!
The second event of Extreme E saw drama unfold before the first corner in the grand Final as GridPlay winners Veloce Racing chose to start on the third grid slot, but the benefit was quickly lost as Stéphane Sarrazin was squeezed out at the first gate which dropped him back to last position.
Mikaela Åhlin-Kottulinsky of JBXE endured rear-wheel damage before she even reached the first corner and was forced to retire the car, as was Cristina Gutiérrez in the X44 car who came to blows with the Rosberg X Racing ODYSSEY 21.
Molly Taylor and Sarrazin were hence left to duke it out for the lead, with the French closing the gap throughout the lap and finishing his stint hot on the heels of the 2016 Australian Rally Champion.
To make sure that the officials could safely clear the stricken X44 and JBXE cars, a brief red flag was put into place, as the high voltage battle for the lead was put on hold while the drivers made their way into the switch zone.
A standing start restart was initiated with Jamie Chadwick and Johan Kristoffersson were all set for an all or nothing, one-lap showdown.
A hard-fought drag race down to the first gate concluded with light contact between the two ODYSSEY 21s giving Kristoffersson the advantage. Once he had arrived at the technical section of the course, the three-time FIA World Rallycross Champion started to stretch his legs opening up a 15-second advantage to clinch Rosberg X Racing’s second Extreme E X race on the trot.
Molly Taylor, Rosberg X Racing driver, said: “It’s so fantastic to have won today! Coming here, it felt like we had a lot of work to do over the weekend, and it certainly didn’t come easy, but with every session we just kept our heads down and just saw where we needed to improve, and everything totally paid off in the end."
Johan Kristoffersson, Rosberg X Racing driver, said: “I’m super happy to be Extreme E winners for the second time! Molly executed everything perfectly, she did an amazing job taking care of the traffic in her lap – I was really impressed with that. The team also did a fantastic job, I have to say a big thanks to them for bringing me and Molly up to speed over the weekend, as we really weren’t the fastest coming into this event but in the end, we were quick where we needed to be and got good starts, so we couldn’t wish for more than that."
Final Result
Rosberg X Racing (Johan Kristoffersson / Molly Taylor) 2 laps
Veloce Racing (Stéphane Sarrazin / Jamie Chadwick) +14.676s
JBXE (Kevin Hansen / Mikaela Åhlin-Kottulinsky) DNF
X44 (Sébastien Loeb / Cristina Gutiérrez) DNF
Championship Standings
Rosberg X Racing(Johan Kristoffersson / Molly Taylor) 71 points
X44(Sébastien Loeb / Cristina Gutiérrez) 57 points
JBXE(Jenson Button / Mikaela Åhlin-Kottulinsky) 44 points
Andretti United Extreme E(Timmy Hansen / Catie Munnings) 37 points
XITE ENERGY RACING(Oliver Bennett / Christine GZ) 37 points
ACCIONA | Sainz XE Team(Carlos Sainz / Laia Sanz) 36 points
ABT Cupra XE(Mattias Ekström / Claudia Hürtgen) 35 points
Veloce Racing(Stéphane Sarrazin / Jamie Chadwick) 31 points
Segi TV Chip Ganassi Racing(Kyle LeDuc / Sara Price) 30 points
