Extreme E returns to the scorching heat of Sardinia next weekend for Rounds 5 and 6 of the 2023 season.
The Island X Prix (8-9 July), co-organised and coordinated by the Automobile Club d’Italia and Regione Sardegna, will mark the championship’s return to the Italian island for a third successive year – with the event shaping up to be the most thrilling yet.
The electric off-road racing series will be returning to the familiar setting of the Italian Army Training area at Capo Teulada in Sulcis-Iglesiente. The Teulada route provides a challenging backdrop for the course, with some changes to this year’s configuration netting out at a track distance of around three kilometres.
Extreme E has been working closely with Automobile Club d’Italia – the national sports federation co-organising and coordinating the event – the Region of Sardinia, and its Tourism Department plus the Ministry of Defense and the Italian Army, to deliver what promises to be a thrilling weekend of racing action.
Alejandro Agag, Founder and CEO at Extreme E, said: “We are really looking forward to the upcoming Island X Prix.
“It has been so tough to call out on track so far this season and so the racing in Sardinia could be the closest fought yet.
“We are also extremely proud to launch our latest legacy initiative in the region, which is the first of its kind in Sardinia, which only reinforces our commitment to sustainable solutions in the areas in which we race.”
On track
Veloce Racing currently leads the Extreme E Season 3 standings after two victories in 2023., ACCIONA | SAINZ XE Team are a close second with 69 points – 11 off the lead – while Season 1 Champions Rosberg X Racing (RXR) sit third. Last year’s winners, Lewis Hamilton’s X44 Vida Carbon Racing, are fourth in the standings.
With three different teams winning a race this term from four rounds, Season 3 has proved to be the most wide open campaign yet. What’s more, there will be some new and familiar faces on the grid for the Island X Prix – which makes the fight for victory in Sardinia even more unpredictable.
Nine-time World Rally Champion, and Extreme E Season 2 winner, Sébastien Loeb will compete in the Island X Prix for ABT CUPRA XE, deputising for Nasser Al Attiyah. No stranger to success, Loeb will be looking to build on his two X Prix wins and six podiums in the series to date alongside Klara Andersson.
There is also a driver change at Carl Cox Motorsport. Lia Block will make her Extreme E debut at Carl Cox Motorsport replacing Christine GZ for the rest of the season. The teenage sensation has shown plenty of potential in her off-road racing career to date and will get behind the wheel of the ODYSSEY 21 for the first time alongside Carl Cox Motorsport team-mate Timo Scheider.
Block’s debut race is undoubtedly a full circle moment for her family and the series as her father, the legendary Ken Block, who sadly passed away earlier this year, was involved in the early developments of Extreme E and was the first driver to race the ODYSSEY 21 in competitive motorsports at the Dakar Rally in January 2020.
How Loeb and Block fare will be exciting to watch out on course in Sardinia, an event which has proven to be more successful for one team above any other – RXR. Nico Rosberg’s outfit have won two of the previous three races held on the Italian island and will be going all out to take their first win of 2023.
Enno Straten, Head of Strategy & Marketing, Continental Tyres EMEA, said:“We are really excited for the upcoming Island X Prix double-header and are looking forward to once again proving the outstanding performance of our tyres under the toughest and most challenging conditions.”
Legacy
Continuing to work alongside the MEDSEA (Mediterranean Sea and Coast) Foundation, the series will build upon its existing legacy projects in the region.
The series will be replanting a half-hectare area with nectar-rich plants, shrubs and trees to create a forest to support bees – the first of its kind in Sardinia – ahead of the upcoming Island X Prix, co-organised and coordinated by the Automobile Club d’Italia and Regione Sardegna.
The pioneering championship will collaborate once more with the MEDSEA Foundation, whose research aims to protect and provide sustainable management of the marine and coastal resources of Sardinia and the Mediterranean Sea, to deliver this latest joint initiative in the region.
The creation of a dedicated forest for this under-threat species will help to rejuvenate the role of pollinators in the area and combat the devastating effects of climate change in the region.
As well as the launch of the forest for bees, Extreme E will be revisiting its already established initiatives in Sardinia.
The series will return to the wildfire sites to learn about the success of the early warning sensors it introduced in the region alongside Vodafone Business last year.
The championship will also review its legacy programmes in the region which focused on blue and green carbon stores, such as the restoration of areas hit by wildfires and replenishing seagrass beds of Posidonia oceanica in the waters of the Marine Protected Areas around Sardinia.
Alessio Satta, Founder and President of MEDSEA, said: “Among all pollinators, bees play a key role in maintaining the natural balance and ensuring food security. Bees pollinate one-third of global crops and are responsible for approximately 75% of the pollination of all plant species on the planet.
“Without them, one-third of the food we normally find in the market would no longer be available.”
With just under a week to go until back-to-back rounds in Sardinia on Saturday 8 and Sunday 9 July, the stage is set for more gripping racing in Extreme E Season 3 as the championship heads to the Italian island.
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