Ahlin-Kottulinsky passed for the lead to give the team its fifth Extreme E victory as well as extending their championship lead. Kleinschmidt was disqualified for not fitting her belts correctly which cost Abt Cupra a chance of victory.
Final
The cars fanned out on the Sardinia circuit on the run the gate 1 with three cars going left and the remaining 2 cars splitting their options on the right. Abt Cupra led the larger group with X44 and Andretti United in hot pursuit. On the opposite side first place qualifiers Rosberg X Racing were leading Acciona Sainz and it was Johan Kristofferson who slotted into second place at the merge. Carlos Sainz dropped down to last which left Nasser Al-Attiyah in the lead.
Third place Sebastian Loeb took a wide line up to gate 3 but wasn’t able to challenge the leaders. Halfway around the lap the gaps stabilized at around 2 seconds between each car apart from last place Sainz. Down on power they were 30 seconds back from the leader and pulled over shortly afterwards.
At the changeover Abt Cupra held a 5 second lead with X44 another 3 back. Disaster was about to strike for the leaders. Jutta Kleinschmidt failed to correctly put her right belt on. She noticed while in the changeover and attempted to rectify the issue. With the time ticking away she gave up on fully fitting the belt and rejoined the race. While she kept first her lead was reduced to little more than a second.
Mikaela Åhlin-Kottulinsky stuck on the leader’s tail for the opening sequence even with Kleinschmidt using her Hyperdrive. Through the watersplash she made her move and squeezed through in first place. Cristina Gutiérrez was next to challenge the German but couldn’t pass and had to settle for third place.
RXR won once again and this time kept their victory at the Island X-Prix. The same couldn’t be said for second place Abt as the team was disqualified from the entire event for driving without the belt connected correctly. X44 were promoted to second with Andretti United completing the podium.
Semi-Finals
RXR won the first semi-final with Acciona Sainz the only other finisher in the race. Both secured their spots into the final just a few corners into the race when Chip Ganassi spun into retirement with broken suspension. Having taken a different route at the start Sarah Price tried to get the cutback on Sanz out of gate 3. However, the pair made slight contact which was enough to break the Chip Ganassi suspension. Initially it looked like both had survived but moments later Price exited stage left. She tried to continue stopping for good halfway around the lap.
X44 rebounded from their worst result in round 2 to win the second semi-final. They made the best start and led from start to finish. Behind, McLaren’s Emma Gilmour wasn’t able to successfully pass Jutta Kleinschmidt. The New Zealander dived up the inside in one corner but the Abt Cupra car was able to get back ahead on the exit. At the handover McLaren dropped back from top 2 and Tanner Foust was unable to close in on Al-Attiyah.
Image Credit: Extreme E
Crazy Race
In the last chance to qualify for the final in Italy, Munnings made the best start for Andretti United. Veloce was the only team to go right at the start. As the lanes merged Munnings and Lance Woolridge were side by side and made light contact. Woolridge was forced to avoid a bush but took second ahead of JBXE and Xite Racing.
The leaders stayed nose to tail for most of the lap. Veloce were the only team sending their male driver out first and Woolridge put Munnings under increasing pressure. With just a handful of gates to go Woolridge got alongside and made light contact over a crest. It spun the Veloce car and he crashed through a waypoint marker. He quickly rejoined and maintained second place some 6 seconds back from first.
Out of the driver change Kevin Hansen overtook Christine GZ to take second and looked to close on his brother in first. However, he spun and knocked down a waypoint flag. The gap increased from 5 seconds to 13 and the challenge was off. Post race both Veloce and JBXE were given penalties for knocking down markers. It didn’t change the order and meant Andretti United were the only team to qualify for the final. JBXE beat Veloce while Xite retired on lap 1.
Points
All this mean RXR and its drivers Johan Kristofferson and Mikaela Ahlin-Kottlinksy extend their lead in the championship after a successful week in Sardinia. In the driver’s championship they sit on 65 with Chip Ganassi pairing on only 43. In the fight for the team’s title they are even more dominant with the team picking up the 5 bonus points for the fastest traction challenge time at every round this year. Chip Ganassi are still second on 43 but RXR sit on 80, 37 ahead with only 60 more available at the final 2 rounds.
The fight for second is wide open with Chip Ganassi, X44 and Acciona Sainz all within 3 points in both the teams and drivers championship. The next round of the series takes place in September for the Copper X-Prix. It will mark the first round in South America when the cars race in Antofagasta, Chile.
Feature Image Credit: Extreme E
