Rosberg X Racing completes bounceback with Island X Prix 2 win, ABT CUPRA disqualified

If not for the penalty in the Island X Prix #1, Rosberg X Racing would be three-for-three in 2022. But two-for-three after a dominating performance in the second race of the doubleheader is still certainly a strong effort for the Extreme E championship leaders. Following yet another qualifying sweep on Saturday and winning Semi-Final #1, RXR’s Mikaela Åhlin-Kottulinsky got by the leading ABT CUPRA XE of Jutta Kleinschmidt on the final lap for the team’s fifth total victory.

ABT CUPRA’s Nasser Al-Attiyah outran Johan Kristoffersson throughout the first lap of the Final, which prompted the latter to “just [try] to stay as close as possible to him, to give Mikaela the best possible basis for her run, and she made good use of it with a fantastic move. It’s a team achievement that we can all be proud of.”

“It’s been my strongest Extreme E weekend so far,” commented Åhlin-Kottulinsky. “We worked so hard, Johan and I analysed everything to try and improve even more. The final was an absolute blast for me, waiting for right opportunity to overtake Jutta. After this week, and everything that happened during the first race, I just feel like this is the ending that we deserved, and I am very happy for the team.”

“It reminds me of my F1 days,” said RXR owner Nico Rosberg. “It’s been a great team effort with everyone giving their best and being at the height of their game. Both drivers have been performing at an incredibly high level. Johan was the star of Race #1 in NEOM. Mikaela was the star of this weekend with her speed and incredible pass for the win through the river, during the last lap. I couldn’t be prouder.”

Even if Kleinschmidt held off Åhlin-Kottulinsky, it would have been for naught as the right shoulder strap of her seatbelt was not fastened, a glaring safety hazard that resulted in ABT CUPRA being disqualified. The team is the first to suffer a disqualification in series history.

With ABT CUPRA’s penalty, X44 and Andretti United XE were respectively moved up to second and third, the latter of whom scores their first podium of 2022 after a rough Race #1 and advancing to the Final via the Crazy Race. X44 also rebounded from having their qualifying streak snapped in the first Sardinia round.

“It’s a good result, but we are still losing points to the leader, quite a lot with the Super Sector ones that they scored,” said X44’s Sébastien Loeb. “We need to react as the Rosberg team is really strong. Both of the drivers are really fast and they make no mistakes so we’ll need to be stronger next time.”

Andretti United’s Catie Munnings described the effort as “a well-deserved result for the team. We had good pace this weekend and to be rewarded with a podium is special. I’m really looking forward to Chile as I think we’ve kind of turned the page, got out of the energy of bad luck as a team from the first couple of races and hopefully we’ll be top step next time.”

ACCIONA | Sainz XE Team, racing in the Extreme E test car and Heat #2 winner, retired after Carlos Sainz hit a stone which resulted in terminal damage. XITE Energy Racing also failed to finish the weekend after Tamara Molinaro went off course while trying to navigate through dust kicked up by Lance Woolridge‘s spun vehicle in the Crazy Race.

Race results

Finish	Number	Team	Total Time	Driver #1	Lap Time	Driver #2	Lap Time
1	6	Rosberg X Racing	9:12.668	Johan Kristoffersson	3:46.379	Mikaela Åhlin-Kottulinsky	3:47.544
2	44	X44	9:20.895	Sébastien Loeb	3:48.912	Cristina Gutiérrez	3:52.852
3	23	Andretti United XE	9:25.552	Timmy Hansen	3:51.458	Catie Munnings	3:55.507
4	55	ACCIONA | Sainz XE Team	DNF	Carlos Sainz	N/A	Laia Sanz	N/A
5	125	ABT CUPRA XE	9:20.322 (DSQ)	Nasser Al-Attiyah	3:40.800	Jutta Kleinschmidt	3:56.750

Semi-Final #1

Finish	Number	Team	Total Time	Driver #1	Lap Time	Driver #2	Lap Time
1	6	Rosberg X Racing	9:19.987	Mikaela Åhlin-Kottulinsky	3:53.377	Johan Kristoffersson	3:46.773
2	55	ACCIONA | Sainz XE Team	9:28.943	Laia Sanz	4:05.671	Carlos Sainz	3:43.387
3	99	Chip Ganassi Racing	DNF	Sara Price	N/A	Kyle LeDuc	N/A

Semi-Final #2

Finish	Number	Team	Total Time	Driver #1	Lap Time	Driver #2	Lap Time
1	44	X44	9:18.618	Cristina Gutiérrez	3:56.339	Sébastien Loeb	3:40.643
2	125	ABT CUPRA XE	9:22.626	Jutta Kleinschmidt	4:06.293	Nasser Al-Attiyah	3:37.153
3	58	McLaren XE	9:38.071	Emma Gilmour	4:08.744	Tanner Foust	3:45.718

Crazy Race

Finish	Number	Team	Total Time	Driver #1	Lap Time	Driver #2	Lap Time
1	23	Andretti United XE	9:21.335	Timmy Hansen	3:58.189	Catie Munnings	3:44.606
2	22	JBXE	9:41.873*	Kevin Hansen	4:05.338	Hedda Hosås	3:46.977
3	5	Veloce Racing	10:09.567*	Lance Woolridge	4:03.039	Christine GZ	4:09.618
4	42	XITE Energy Racing	7:46.847 (DNF)	Timo Scheider	4:39.911	Tamara Molinaro	1:39.235

* – Received a penalty