ABT CUPRA XE finish as top Qualifiers at the Island X Prix Round 8, co-organised and coordinated by the Automobile Club d’Italia and Regione Sardegna.
Coming out on top in Qualifying 1 Heat 1 and second in Qualifying 2 Heat 1, Round 7 podium finishers Klara Andersson and Sébastien Loeb reach the top of the standings to enter their second Grand Final of the weekend.
Joining ABT CUPRA XE are No.99 GMC HUMMER EV Chip Ganassi Racing, X44 Vida Carbon Racing, and JBXE, with all teams level on points after Qualifying. The American outfit tops the trio with the quickest Continental Traction Challenge, followed by X44. JBXE finish fourth in overall Qualifying, securing a spot in the Grand Final for a second time this season.
Rounding out the Top 5 are Rosberg X Racing, who finished level on points with the ACCIONA | SAINZ XE Team following a DNF for the Spanish outfit in Q2. A quicker Continental Traction Challenge for Nico Rosberg’s team sees them take the last spot in the Grand Final and gain the advantage in the title-fight.
The remaining five teams will fight it out in the Redemption Race, including championship leaders ASXE and title contenders Veloce Racing, to determine sixth to tenth place in the Round 8 standings.
Qualifying 1 Heat 1
Not for the first time this weekend we saw an ODYSSEY 21 on two wheels through the opening corner, as ABT CUPRA XE’s Loeb came into contact with the back of Timo Scheider’s Carl Cox Motorsport car.
Scheider held the lead, with X44 in second and Loeb behind in third, before the Frenchman spotted the gap and dived up the inside to take second from Fraser McConnell, along with some bodywork.
Veloce Racing’s Kevin Hansen also found his way passed the damaged X44 ODYSSEY 21 for third, before inheriting second when Scheider was forced to pull aside with an issue that ended Carl Cox Motorsport’s race.
A controlled drive from Andersson saw ABT CUPRA XE take the Heat 1 win, and it looked to be second for Taylor but the Veloce car slowed to a halt with an electrical failure on the final corner of the race. Unable to restart the car, JBXE’s Andreas Bakkerud passed the Australian to take second, and X44’s Cristina Gutiérrez crawled passed to finish third.
Qualifying 1 Heat 2
In one of the calmest starts this weekend, No.99 GMC HUMMER EV Chip Ganassi Racing’s RJ Anderson took first, while Mattias Ekström ran wide in the ASXE car to slot into third behind RXR’s Johan Kristoffersson.
The Swede put on the pressure as he tried to take first from Anderson, but the American held on into the Switch Zone.Mistakes in the driver change, however, saw the team drop back from first to third.
Competitive racing from the female drivers saw all four teams close together, but just as Munnings looked to be about to pass Amanda Sorensen for third, the Brit went into the back of the No.99 GMC HUMMER EV Chip Ganassi Racing car in the water, resulting in a DNF for Andretti Altawkilat Extreme E.
The rest of the race went down to the wire, as ASXE’s Laia Sanz got the best exit from the final corner and managed to pip RXR’s Mikaela Åhlin-Kottulsinky on the finish line to steal the win by 0.061 seconds as the title-battle continues to heat up.
Qualifying 2 Heat 1
Deploying her ENOWA Hyperdrive slightly later than the rest of the grid paid off for Gutiérrez, as the Spaniard’s speed took her all the way round the outside to take the lead for X44.
RXR’s Åhlin-Kottulinsky ran in second, ahead of Andersson in the ABT CUPRA XE car, while Lia Block pulled off an overtake on Andretti Altawkilat’s Munnings to take fourth for Carl Cox Motorsport.
Following the driver change in the Switch Zone, McConnell kept his cool to take the Heat win for X44. A 10-second penalty for dropping a Way Point flag in the closing stages saw RXR drop behind ABT CUPRA XE, ensuring Loeb and Andersson’s spot in the Grand Final alongside X44.
Third in the Heat would prove enough for RXR to take the last spot in the Grand Final, with the team’s Continental Traction Challenge time coming into play to put them above their rivals, ASXE.
A 10-second penalty for Carl Cox Motorsport for dropping a Way Point flag meant the team dropped to fifth behind Andretti Altawkilat Extreme E, and both teams will be fighting it out in the Redemption Race.
Qualifying 2 Heat 2
Contact between ASXE and Veloce at the start saw the latter drop off-course and to the back of the pack, putting Taylor on the back foot before the first corner. Bakkerud took the lead for JBXE ahead of Sorensen in the No.99 GMC HUMMER EV Chip Ganassi Racing car, as Sanz slotted into third.
Veloce Racing soon slowed to a halt, but after managing to restart the car, the team crawled around for the remainder of the race with broken power steering. This would prove crucial for the Qualifying standings when ASXE’s ODYSSEY 21 came to a stop out on-course. Unable to rejoin the Heat, Ekström was eventually passed by Hansen, dropping into fourth behind Veloce and going level on points with RXR.
Anderson pulled off a risky manoeuvre to take the lead from JBXE’s Hosås, and it paid off as the American surged into the lead to take the win in the closing stages.
JBXE joins No.99 GMC HUMMER EV Chip Ganassi Racing in the Grand Final, with the latter securing the quickest Continental Traction Challenge of the day so far. Meanwhile, championship hopefuls ASXE and Veloce Racing will have to salvage some points in the Redemption Race.
Q1 Heat 1:
1. ABT CUPRA XE 9:51.079mins
2. JBXE +6.340s
3. X44 Vida Carbon Racing +1:05.849s (PENALISED)
4. Veloce Racing DNF
5. Carl Cox Motorsport DNF
Q1 Heat 2:
1. ACCIONA | SAINZ XE Team 9:53.498mins
2. Rosberg X Racing +0.061s
3. No.99 GMC HUMMER EV Chip Ganassi Racing +0.977s
4. Andretti Altawkilat Extreme E DNF
5. NEOM McLaren Extreme E Team DNS
Q2 Heat 1:
1. X44 Vida Carbon Racing 9:29.983mins
2. ABT CUPRA XE +10.678s
3. Rosberg X Racing +11.259s (PENALISED)
4. Andretti Altawkilat Extreme E +13.734s
5. Carl Cox Motorsport +21.437s (PENALISED)
Q2 Heat 2:
1. No.99 GMC HUMMER EV Chip Ganassi Racing +10:05.384s
2. JBXE +1.514s
3. Veloce Racing +5:49.682s
4. ACCIONA | SAINZ XE Team DNF
5. NEOM McLaren Extreme E Team DNS
Overall Qualifying Standings:
1. ABT CUPRA XE: 18 points
2. No.99 GMC HUMMER EV Chip Ganassi Racing: 16 points
3. X44 Vida Carbon Racing: 16 points
4. JBXE: 16 points
5. Rosberg X Racing: 14 points
6. ACCIONA | SAINZ XE Team: 14 points
7. Veloce Racing: 10 points
8. Andretti Altawkilat Extreme E: 8 points
9. Carl Cox Motorsport: 4 points
10. NEOM McLaren Extreme E Team: 0 points
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