It’s low tide, high drama at Extreme E in Senegal

Rosberg team wins again in electric-powered off-road racing series

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Extreme E Senegal
Close competition: The Veloce Racing entry battles Hispano Suiza Xite Energy on the beach in Senegal | Extreme E photos by LAT

“It was low tide but high drama” the Extreme E off-road racing series reports of the final round this past weekend of the Ocean X Prix staged at Lac Rose, Dakar, Senegal, on the west coast of Africa, where Rosberg X Racing teammates Johan Kristoffersson and Molly Taylor won in their electric-powered vehicle.

Kristoffersson and Taylor also won the season-opening event, held in the Saudi Arabian desert. The series is being staged not only to showcase electric-powered off-road racing machines, and the capabilities of men and women drivers (required for each car), but to bring attention to fragile environments around the globe.

The oceanfront course was considered both tight and technical and offered several alternate routes to the competitors as they sought victory.

The winning vehicle for the second event in a row
The winners celebrate with a dip in the ocean

“You know, it’s not to be underestimated the challenge that was out there this weekend,” said team founder Nico Rosberg, son of 1982 Formula 1 champion Keke Rosberg and himself the 2016 F1 champion. 

“It’s so difficult because no one really understands the cars properly, as you don’t get a chance to test them,” Keke Rosberg added. “So you have to guess and figure things out – as a team, we’re really trying to bring a Formula 1 approach to Extreme E here which is really helping us a team to perform. It’s been an amazing team effort, we just kept building it up through the weekend. 

“And it’s so cool as well that in AlUla (Saudi Arabia), it was Johan that very much did it at the start and Molly followed on, but today it’s Molly that made the magic in the final and then Johan brought it home – such a brilliant dynamic which really underlines the topic of equality which is one of the things that this championship is based on – that’s fantastic to see.

“I love this whole championship and being in the role of team principal,” he noted. “I’m still as competitive as hell even though I’m not actually driving. Anyway, we have the two best drivers in the car who are doing a much better job than I could — and I couldn’t be happier.”

The final stage of the event featured four cars, two of which retired at the first corner, one with a damaged wheel and the other after colliding with the Rosberg car, which was able to continue.

After a red flag to safely clear the damaged vehicles, the race became a battle between the Rosberg car and the Veloce Racing entry driven by Stéphane Sarrazin and Jamie Chadwick, with Kristoffersson eventually emerging with a 15-second margin of victory.

Next up for Extreme E is an event scheduled for August 28-29 in Kangerlussuaq, Greenland.

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