The ongoing coronavirus pandemic forced changes to the schedule for the inaugural season of Extreme E, the off-road racing series for electric vehicles, but organizers were able to stage five events, and the Rosberg X Racing duo of Johan Kristofferssson and Molly Taylor won three of them and the championship.
The season finale, the Jurassic X Prix, was staged in Great Britain and was won by Sebastien Loeb and Cristina Gutierrez of X44, which posted the fastest qualifying times at every stop and finished the season with the same 155-point total as Rosberg, but lost the championship based on fewer event victories, 3-1.
Joining X44 on the Jurassic podium were Jenson Button’s JBXE and the Andretti United teams.
Extreme E staged its events in locations designed to bring attention not only to the potential for electric-powered racing, but to fragile environments. Thus the conditions for the races ranged from hot deserts to a wet weekend in the UK.
“This season has been brutal, racing in some of the most remote parts of the world in truly extreme conditions,” Taylor was quoted after the final event. “But we’ve worked together as a team and we’re delighted with this result. The nerves were definitely there today but Johan and I kept our eyes on the final prize, and the whole team effort across many months has brought us to this point today.”
X44 driver Loeb noted, “This has been a challenging championship for us, but this weekend was the best so far. We came first in qualifying in every X Prix, but we kept having bad luck in the Finals so to end on equal points with RXR after the season they’ve had is incredible and shows what we can do.”
Jurassic event winners Cristina Gutierrez and Sebastien Loeb 
Cristina Gutierrez and Sebastien Loeb before their mud bath
In Extreme E racing, each car is driven in turn by a team’s male and female entrants.
“We are really happy with the first Extreme E season,” added Alejandro Agag, the series founder. “It has not been easy in the middle of a pandemic, but we have delivered five X Prix events, and the Finale in Dorset produced some spectacular racing.
“Since our first event in Saudi Arabia we have had a lot of eventful and incredible moments ending in a brilliant title decider today. We are now looking forward to what we hope will be a fantastic Season 2.”
