ACCIONA Sainz leads Copper X Prix Free Practices

The ACCIONA | Sainz XE Team enjoyed a solid Friday as Carlos Sainz and Laia Sanz led the two Free Practice sessions ahead of the Copper X Prix.

The team beat points leader Rosberg X Racing by just two-tenths of a second in FP1, though the margin was actually much greater had Sanz not received a ten-second penalty for hitting a waypoint marker. The same infraction was also handed to Chip Ganassi Racing‘s Kyle LeDuc.

“The race in Chile will be important for ACCIONA | SAINZ XE Team as an individual event but also in the bigger picture for the final stages of the championship because there are only two events to go in the calendar,” commented Sainz.

“We are traveling to a different continent and we visit South America for the very first time. I have fond memories of my time there with the World Rally Championship and the Rally Dakar and I am sure that Extreme E will also receive a warm welcome. It will be an excellent race. I am already looking forward to discovering the terrain where we will be racing and I want to see what challenges the track entails.”

ACCIONA | Sainz’s run comes just days after the team resumed rebuilding their Spark ODYSSEY 21, which suffered severe damage in a wreck at the first Island X Prix and forced them to run the second in the Extreme E test car. The team was also permitted to shake down the reconstructed car ahead of the weekend.

“Both Carlos and I are really looking forward to the Copper X Prix because we were really competitive in Sardinia but we were not able to translate our potential into a good result,” said Sanz. “I am optimistic and I think that we can stand out in Chile because in the last events we have had the pace to fight for everything. I am convinced that we will keep that same level in what remains of this season. We will work flat-out to do so.”

RXR dropped to sixth in FP2 while Sainz led Andretti United XE by over five seconds. ABT CUPRA XE did not set a time after Jutta Kleinschmidt had a rough landing on a jump that damaged her car’s nose; while she exited the vehicle without issue, she was airlifted to Hospital de Calama for further evaluation.

“After her accident in Free Practice 2 Jutta will need to stay in hospital overnight for further observation,” stated a team spokesperson. “The entire ABT CUPRA XE team is in close contact with Jutta and wishes her the very best.”

Emma Gilmour of McLaren XE was penalised during her run that resulted in the team also not having an official time. XITE Energy Racing failed to finish the first practice following Timo Scheider‘s air time that resulted in a broken steering arm.

Unlike previous races, each driver got two laps due to the Copper X Prix course being much shorter.

Free Practice #1 results

Free Practice #2 results

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