The 2021 Extreme E Championship was the inaugural season of the Extreme E electric off-road racing series. It started on 3 April with the Desert X-Prix in Saudi Arabia.
Calendar A provisional race schedule was announced on 17 December 2019, which would have seen a season start in January 2021 with an event in Senegal. But because of delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic the start of the season was pushed back to spring 2021, and a race in Patagonia was presented to replace a Nepal-based event. On 11 June 2021, both South American events –planned to be held in Ushuaia, Argentina and Santarém, Brazil– were cancelled, with championship CEO Alejandro Agag stating they are "seeking alternate destinations". In late July, the Island X-Prix on Sardinia was announced as the first replacement race. A Jurassic X-Prix, due to take place in Dorset, was revealed in October as the new season finale.
Round Dates Event Location 1 3–4 April 2021 Desert X-Prix Al-'Ula, Saudi Arabia 2 29–30 May 2021 Ocean X-Prix Lac Rose, Senegal 3 28–29 August 2021 Arctic X-Prix Kangerlussuaq, Greenland 4 23–24 October 2021 Island X-Prix Sardinia, Italy 5 18–19 December 2021 Jurassic X-Prix Dorset, United Kingdom
The following events were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic: Original Dates Event Location 14–15 May 2021 Mountain X-Prix Kali Gandaki Gorge, Nepal 23–24 October 2021 Amazon X-Prix Santarém, Brazil 11–12 December 2021 Glacier X-Prix Ushuaia, Argentina
Race format A race weekend consists of two rounds of qualifying time trials on Saturday, followed by multi-car races on Sunday. At the Desert X-Prix all races were intended for three cars: a semi-final from which two teams advanced to the final, a "crazy race" from which only one team advanced and a shoot-out for the bottom three places, culminating in a three-car final. The format was tweaked for round two in Senegal, where two teams each from two semi-finals advance to the final which is competed by four teams. Additionally, a "super sector" is introduced, where five extra points are awarded to the fastest team through that sector over the whole weekend. Further alterations were introduced for round three in Greenland, most notably a five-car final with one team progressing from the erstwhile shoot-out, now called "crazy race". An intermediate classification points system was also implemented, with teams receiving points from 9 down to 1 according to their place in each qualifying session; the sum of these, rather than aggregate times, determining their overall qualifying position. These classification points would not contribute to overall championship points. Another rule adjustment was introduced at the season finale in Dorset to accommodate the short nature of the circuit, each session now consisting of three laps, with the starting driver, who in the final would be the female driver, taking the first two.
Teams and drivers
The following teams and drivers competed in the 2021 championship. All teams use one of the identical Odyssey 21 electric SUVs manufactured by Spark Racing Technology, with Chip Ganassi Racing running a modified bodywork. Each team consists of a male and a female driver, who share a car and have equal driving duties.
Team Drivers Rounds Veloce Racing 5 Jamie Chadwick 1–2, 5 Emma Gilmour 3–4 Stéphane Sarrazin 1–4 Lance Woolridge 5 Rosberg X Racing 6 Johan Kristoffersson All Molly Taylor All JBXE 22 Jenson Button 1 Kevin Hansen 2–5 Mikaela Åhlin-Kottulinsky All Andretti United Extreme E 23 Catie Munnings All Timmy Hansen All Hispano Suiza Xite Energy Team Xite Energy Racing 42 Christine GZ All Oliver Bennett All Team X44 44 Cristina Gutiérrez All Sébastien Loeb All Acciona Sainz XE Team 55 Carlos Sainz All Laia Sanz All Segi TV Chip Ganassi Racing 99 Kyle LeDuc All Sara Price All Abt Cupra XE 125 Claudia Hürtgen 1–2 Jutta Kleinschmidt 2–5 Mattias Ekström All +Championship reserve drivers Drivers Rounds Jutta Kleinschmidt 1–2 Tamara Molinaro 3–5 Timo Scheider All
Mid-season changes JBXE team owner Jenson Button only drove the first round and then replaced himself with Kevin Hansen. Claudia Hürtgen fell ill after the Ocean X-Prix shakedown and had to be replaced by championship reserve driver Jutta Kleinschmidt. Later it was announced that Kleinschmidt would take over the Abt Cupra seat for the remainder of the season. Jamie Chadwick missed rounds 3 and 4 because of W Series commitments and was replaced by Veloce reserve driver Emma Gilmour. Stéphane Sarrazin parted ways with Veloce prior to the final round of the season. He was replaced by the team's male reserve driver, Lance Woolridge.
Results and standings X-Prix Round Event Qualifying 1 Qualifying 2 Qualifying Overall Semi-Final 1 Semi-Final 2 Crazy Race Final 1 Desert X-Prix Rosberg X Racing Team X44 Team X44 Rosberg X Racing Andretti United XE Abt Cupra XE not awarded Rosberg X Racing Report 2 Ocean X-Prix Team X44 Team X44 Team X44 Rosberg X Racing JBXE Chip Ganassi Racing Chip Ganassi Racing Rosberg X Racing Report 3 Arctic X-Prix Team X44 Rosberg X Racing Team X44 Team X44 Andretti United XE JBXE Andretti United XE Andretti United XE Report 4 Island X-Prix Team X44 Team X44 Team X44 Chip Ganassi Racing Rosberg X Racing JBXE Team X44 Rosberg X Racing Report 5 Jurassic X-Prix Team X44 Team X44 Team X44 Team X44 Rosberg X Racing Andretti United XE Team X44 Team X44 Report
Scoring system Points are awarded to the top nine drivers based on aggregate qualifying standings, as well as the top nine finishers. From the second round on, an additional 5 points are given to the fastest team in the Super Sector over the whole weekend. Position 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th Qualifying 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 5 Race day 25 19 18 15 12 10 8 6 4 Only the best four X-Prix results count towards the drivers' championship.
Drivers' Championship standings Driver DES OCE ARC ISL JUR PointsQRQRQRQRQR 1 Johan Kristoffersson Molly Taylor 3 1 2 1 3 5 2 1 2 4 2 Cristina Gutiérrez Sébastien Loeb 1 3 1 4 1 4 1* 5 1 1* 3 Catie Munnings Timmy Hansen 4 2 8 9 4* 1 6 6 7 3 4 Mikaela Åhlin-Kottulinsky 6 6 4 3 8 2 7 3 5 2 4 Kevin Hansen 4 3 8 2 7 3 5 2 102 5 Carlos Sainz Laia Sanz 2 4 9 8 6 3 4 7 3 5 6 Mattias Ekström 8 7 3 5 2 7 3 2 4 7 6 Jutta Kleinschmidt 3 5 2 7 3 2 4 7 87 7 Sara Price 7 8 7* 7 7 9 5 4 8 8 7 Stéphane Sarrazin 9 WD 5 2 5 6 8 8 60 8 Kyle LeDuc 7 8 7* 7 7 9 5 4 8 8 9 Christine GZ Oliver Bennett 5 5 6 6 9 8 9 9 9 9 10 Jamie Chadwick 9 WD 5 2 6 6 48 11 Emma Gilmour 5 6 8 8 29 12 Jenson Button 6 6 17 12 Lance Woolridge 6 6 17 13 Claudia Hürtgen 8 7 WD WD 13 Driver DES OCE ARC ISL JUR Points Key Colour Result Gold Winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green Other points position Black Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Withdrew (WD) Race cancelled (C) * – Fastest in Super Sector
Teams' Championship standings Team DES OCE ARC ISL JUR PointsQRQRQRQRQR 1 Rosberg X Racing 3 1 2 1 3 5 2 1 2 4 155 2 Team X44 1 3 1 4 1 4 1* 5 1 1* 155 3 JBXE 6 6 4 3 8 2 7 3 5 2 119 4 Andretti United Extreme E 4 2 8 9 4* 1 6 6 7 3 117 5 Abt Cupra XE 8 7 3 5 2 7 3 2 4 7 100 6 Acciona Sainz XE Team 2 4 9 8 6 3 4 7 3 5 100 7 Veloce Racing 9 WD 5 2 5 6 8 8 6 6 77 8 Segi TV Chip Ganassi Racing 7 8 7* 7 7 9 5 4 8 8 74 9 Hispano Suiza Xite Energy Team Xite Energy Racing 5 5 6 6 9 8 9 9 9 9 63 Team DES OCE ARC ISL JUR Points
Notes
References
External links