By RaceScene Publisher on Wednesday, 06 July 2022
Category: The Checkered Flag

Rosberg X Racing snaps X44 qualifying reign in Sardinia

For over a year, Extreme E had only known the feeling of X44 topping qualifying with Cristina Gutiérrez and Sébastien Loeb. That changed on Wednesday as for the first time ever after six races, the series had a different overall qualifying winner as Rosberg X Racing held the honour for the first Island X Prix.

RXR, the current championship leader, continued its momentum by topping the first round of qualifying with Mikaela Åhlin-Kottulinsky and Johan Kristoffersson setting a time nearly twelve seconds quicker than runner-up ACCONA | Sainz XE, followed by winning the first heat race in Round #2. With a maximum Intermediate Classification points payout of twenty, RXR will be placed in the first Semi-Final on Thursday.

X44’s qualifying dominance saw its demise during Loeb’s qualifying run in Q1 as his left-rear tyre suffered a puncture and resulted in substantial body damage, placing the #44 seventh. The team rebounded in the first heat by finishing second, though not without some scrutiny regarding a potential yellow flag zone overtake by Loeb on XITE Energy Racing‘s Tamara Molinaro that ultimately ended without penalty.

The second heat saw the Sainz outfit lead both laps after avoiding an early pursuit by McLaren XE. During the halfway driver swap, Veloce seemingly beat McLaren back onto the course despite being behind by twelve seconds, a drastic and sudden margin reduction that unsurprisingly prompted question on whether the team sped on pit road. Veloce would physically finish second with Lance Woolridge while McLaren’s Emma Gilmour held off the charging JBXE of Kevin Hansen for third. The investigation is still ongoing as of this article’s publishing, and provisional results currently list Veloce in second.

Regardless of where Veloce is ultimately classified, it will still have to run the Crazy Race, being weighed down by a lack of qualifying time in Round #1 after the suspension failed during Woolridge’s lap. McLaren and Chip Ganassi Racing were also unable to set times as the former also suffered a suspension problem while the latter’s vehicle stalled. CGR also retired from Heat #1, capping off a difficult day after dominating Tuesday practice.

Qualifying results

Intermediate Classification

RankTeamRound #1 PointsRound #2 PointsTotal PointsPlacement
1Rosberg X Racing101020Semi-Final #1
2ACCIONA | Sainz XE Team91019Semi-Final #2
3X444812Semi-Final #2
4Andretti United XE8412Semi-Final #1
5XITE Energy Racing6612Semi-Final #1
6ABT CUPRA XE729Semi-Final #2
7JBXE549Crazy Race
8Veloce Racing088Crazy Race
9McLaren XE066Crazy Race
10Chip Ganassi Racing000Crazy Race

Round #2

Heat #1

FinishNumberTeamTotal TimeDriver #1Lap TimeDriver #2Lap Time
16Rosberg X Racing9:58.821Johan Kristoffersson3:50.513Mikaela Åhlin-Kottulinsky4:29.088
244X4410:07.542Cristina Gutiérrez4:08.188Sébastien Loeb4:18.946
342XITE Energy Racing10:12.180Timo Scheider4:01.983Tamara Molinaro4:31.067
423Andretti United XE10:14.019Catie Munnings4:04.112Timmy Hansen4:30.247
599Chip Ganassi RacingDNFKyle LeDucN/ASara PriceN/A

Heat #2

FinishNumberTeamTotal TimeDriver #1Lap TimeDriver #2Lap Time
155ACCIONA | Sainz XE Team9:32.591Carlos Sainz3:53.526Laia Sanz3:58.336
25Veloce Racing9:38.772Christine GZ4:11.440Lance Woolridge3:57.509
358McLaren XE9:42.824Tanner Foust3:59.283Emma Gilmour4:00.562
422JBXE9:43.052Hedda Hosås4:17.737Kevin Hansen3:45.601
5125ABT CUPRA XE9:49.593Jutta Kleinschmidt4:22.244Nasser Al-Attiyah3:47.195

Round #1

FinishNumberTeamTotal TimeDriver #1Lap TimeDriver #2Lap Time
16Rosberg X Racing9:13.966Mikaela Åhlin-Kottulinsky3:56.833Johan Kristoffersson3:37.567
255ACCIONA | Sainz XE Team9:25.859Laia Sanz4:00.649Carlos Sainz3:43.996
323Andretti United XE9:26.977Timmy Hansen3:49.392Catie Munnings3:54.930
4125ABT CUPRA XE9:29.710Nasser Al-Attiyah3:44.823Jutta Kleinschmidt4:04.172
542XITE Energy Racing9:32.482Tamara Molinaro4:02.964Timo Scheider3:47.621
622JBXE9:44.426Kevin Hansen3:50.994Hedda Hosås4:13.688
744X4411:20.974Sébastien Loeb4:23.725Cristina Gutiérrez3:59.049
858McLaren XE8:49.866 (DNF)Emma Gilmour4:00.857Tanner Foust1:39.905
999Chip Ganassi Racing4:02.753 (DNF)Sara Price4:02.753Kyle LeDucN/A
105Veloce RacingDNFLance WoolridgeN/AChristine GZN/A

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