X44 triumphs in Hydro X Prix 1 after Andretti penalty

After falling short of the podium in both Desert X Prix races to begin their Extreme E championship defence, X44 was on the top step of the first Hydro X Prix Saturday.

Andretti XE led the way in the Grand Final for Race #1, but a switch bay violation in which Timmy Hansen traded off with Catie Munnings before the latter departed too early resulted in a fifteen-second penalty. With Andretti beating X44 to the finish by six seconds, the time docked was enough for X44 to leapfrog them for the win.

Even if circumstantial due to the infraction, Cristina Gutiérrez still enjoys her third career Extreme E win while Fraser McConnell notches his first.

“It just goes to show that prioritising opportunity and inclusivity doesn’t have to come at the cost of performance, and we’re proud to be showing what’s possible here in Extreme E,” said McConnell. “We didn’t have the best starting position—second from the outside—so I knew I was going to have to do something a little risky to get in front which I managed. I went a little wide and they got the better run, but that’s racing. We were able to stay close enough to capitalise on their penalty. A win is always a win and very happy to do this one for X44.”

Carl Cox Motorsport scored their maiden podium in just their second race weekend, taking advantage of Ganassi driver RJ Anderson‘s flat tyre. Rosberg X Racing failed to finish after Johan Kristoffersson rolled the car.

ACCIONA | Sainz XE and Veloce Racing, both top two in the championship, were relegated to the Redemption Race after struggling in their heats, but still finished in those same positions to salvage some points. Veloce had led practice on Friday and hopes to regain their momentum on Sunday.

The first round of qualifying was cancelled due to low-lying fog in the area.

Grand Final results

Finish	Number	Team	Total Time	Driver #1	Driver #2
1	44	X44 Vida Carbon Racing	10:12.670	Fraser McConnell	Cristina Gutiérrez
2	23	Andretti ALTAWKILAT Extreme E	10:21.656*	Timmy Hansen	Catie Munnings
3	8	Carl Cox Motorsport	10:51.647	Christine GZ	Timo Scheider
4	99	GMC Hummer EV Chip Ganassi Racing	11:14.386	RJ Anderson	Amanda Sorensen
5	6	Rosberg X Racing	DNF	Johan Kristoffersson	Mikaela Åhlin-Kottulinsky

* – Received a penalty

Redemption Race results

Finish	Number	Team	Total Time	Driver #1	Driver #2
1	55	ACCIONA | Sainz XE Team	9:49.303	Mattias Ekström	Laia Sanz
2	5	Veloce Racing	9:52.953	Kevin Hansen	Molly Taylor
3	58	NEOM McLaren XE	10:05.503	Emma Gilmour	Tanner Foust
4	22	JBXE	10:22.082	Andreas Bakkerud	Hedda Hosås
5	125	ABT CUPRA XE	DNS	Nasser Al-Attiyah	Klara Andersson

Qualifying results

Heat #1

Finish	Number	Team	Driver #1	Driver #2
1	44	X44 Vida Carbon Racing	Cristina Gutiérrez	Fraser McConnell
2	99	GMC Hummer EV Chip Ganassi Racing	Amanda Sorensen	RJ Anderson
3	23	Andretti ALTAWKILAT Extreme E	Catie Munnings	Timmy Hansen
4	55	ACCIONA | Sainz XE Team	Laia Sanz	Mattias Ekström
5	22	JBXE	Hedda Hosås	Andreas Bakkerud

Heat #2

Finish	Number	Team	Driver #1	Driver #2
1	6	Rosberg X Racing	Mikaela Åhlin-Kottulinsky	Johan Kristoffersson
2	8	Carl Cox Motorsport	Timo Scheider	Christine GZ
3	58	NEOM McLaren XE*	Tanner Foust	Emma Gilmour
4	5	Veloce Racing †	Molly Taylor	Kevin Hansen
5	125	ABT CUPRA XE †	Klara Andersson	Nasser Al-Attiyah

† – Did not finish