Hedda Hosas to make cross-country rally debut at Dubai Baja

Hedda Hosås will be the latest Extreme E driver to try her hand at cross-country rally when she races an SSV at the Dubai International Baja in November.

“My first ever rally raid. I still can’t believe it’s happening,” said Hosås. “This is something I’ve dreamed about for years and it hasn’t been easy but every single step has been worth it. I’m so grateful to everyone who helped make this dream a reality.”

The Norwegian has been involved with Extreme E since the inaugural season in 2021, originally as a reserve driver for Veloce Racing before taking the same role for the series as a whole the following year. After being called up by Veloce for the season opener in injury relief for Christine GZ (also a rally raider), she ended up running the full season with JBXE and scored a third-place finish at the first Island X Prix.

Hosås continued with JBXE for much of the 2023 season, scoring a best finish of fifth in the Sunday races of both Island X Prix events. She moved to McLaren XE for that year’s season finale at the Copper X Prix as a substitute for the injured Emma Gilmour, where she and Tanner Foust won a heat and qualified for the Grand Final on both days. She finished ninth in the driver’s championship.

McLaren opted to sign two more rally raiders in Mattias Ekström and 2024 Dakar Rally Challenger winner Cristina Gutiérrez for the 2024 XE season. Hosås remained with the series, albeit as the test driver for their successor Extreme H’s new hydrogen-powered Pioneer 25, which is set to début in 2025.

Other XE drivers to have competed in cross-country rally as well as Extreme E include the newly crowned World Rally-Raid Champion Nasser Al-Attiyah, reigning Dakar overall winner Carlos Sainz, Dania Akeel, Jutta Kleinschmidt, Sébastien Loeb, Sara Price, Laia Sanz, and Molly Taylor.

Since 2023, Hosås has been familiarising herself with side-by-side vehicles by competing in the Swedish SxS Nordic series. She finished fifteenth in the 2023 standings with a best run of twelfth at Falköpings Motorstadion.

Scheduled for 15–17 November, the Dubai International Baja will be the penultimate round of the FIA World and Middle East Baja Cups.