As 2022 draws to a close, it marks an opportunity to reflect on the year and another thrilling season of Extreme E. The series caught up with the experts to look back on an dramatic campaign before attention turns to Season 3 in 2023.
The experts:
Dominik Wilde (DirtFish / Racer)
James Morris (Forbes / WhichEV)
Elisabetta Caracciolo (Gazzetta dello Sport)
Bianca Garloff (AutoBILD)
Daniel Panelo (Soy Motor)
Extreme E: What was your favourite X Prix of Season 2?
James Morris: For me, that had to be Uruguay. Not for any specific race during the weekend, but the whole event from Free Practice to the Final was packed with crucial drama. The whole championship remained in the air until a few minutes after the Final, when the stewards’ decision about penalties was confirmed. The story swung backwards and forwards with each stage of the competitive tussle, making for an exciting finale.
Daniel Panelo: I would completely agree with James. The Uruguay Natural Energy X Prix was the standout of Season 2.
Elisabetta Caracciolo: That makes three of us! It was the most exciting of the season for sure.
Dominik Wilde: Chile’s Final was definitely the stand-out race for me. Ignoring the fact that a litany of penalties meant that everyone in the race was regarded as the winner at one point, what actually happened on track was thrilling. Let’s not forget before the race even began there was drama with Rosberg X Racing failing to make the start thanks to a rare mechanical issue. I’m still catching my breath after that one.
Bianca Garloff: I would have to agree with the majority here. The season finale in Uruguay was an epic way to end the year.
XE: What do you think was the standout livery out on the course this season?
DP: I’d have to say the ACCIONA | SAINZ XE Team. Its colours have been distinctive since the series launched.
DW: This is a tough choice for me between NEOM McLaren Extreme E Team’s original look and Genesys Andretti United Extreme E’s, but given the latter stayed the course of the year, it has to get the nod. The Andretti United car was a stunner. Simple, yet effective. Bright, yet not overbearing. It stood out, yet had the elegance of those instantly memorable racing car liveries of days gone by. At least to me, anyway.
JM: I’m a sucker for the ABT CUPRA XE blue, which parallels the signature colour you can specify on the Cupra Born EV. It’s a classy livery, which maybe doesn’t stand out as boldly as some others in the season but underlines how Cupra is doing Extreme E because it’s also a consumer car brand focused on electrification.
BG: I would have to agree with ABT CUPRA XE’s livery – it was my standout, too.
EC: For me, it was great to see the X44 Vida Carbon Racing livery from Sardinia in person. It is not in doubt for me!
XE: There has been a variety of courses this year, but can you pick a favourite?
DW: Chile, without a doubt. What the Extreme E crew managed out there was nothing short of remarkable. To go to the most remote, most featureless place on earth, and somehow create the most dramatic circuit – all keeping within the limitations of what nature had provided – was fantastic.
Big banks, big jumps, big action, it provided everything and has set the blueprint of what every track from now on needs to live up to.
JM: Chile had a great blend of terrain and a unique track for the series. It also had a strong, sustainable message about how mining is essential for the decarbonised future.
DP: I would have to agree. The Antofagasta Minerals Copper X Prix course was absolutely spectacular and provided so many on-track highlights from the year.
EC: It is so hard to choose between Chile and Uruguay. I thought they were both so beautiful and great locations for the series.
BG: I would actually have to go for the Sardinia course which featured the championship’s first-ever double header event. That was impressive and produced some great racing.
XE: Who is the driver you’ve been most impressed by this season?
DW: We knew from World Rallycross that Klara Andersson is a decent pedaller, but in Chile – after being parachuted into ABT CUPRA XE at the 11th hour – we really got to see what she’s made of.
Klara held her own in on-track battles before helping the then-struggling team to its first podium of the season on debut. And if that wasn’t enough, after keeping the seat for the finale in Uruguay, that fine form continued as she became Extreme E’s youngest-ever winner.
JM: I would also say Klara Andersson. She was a late addition to the ABT CUPRA XE team, but having watched her impressive performance in World RX, I was not surprised how quickly she has taken to wringing the best possible performance out of the ODYSSEY 21. She’s still very young but has the potential to show that female racing drivers can compete with men on a level playing field, which is fantastic message of equality. This is one of the themes Extreme E is trying to promote, and Klara is a fantastic ambassador for female contribution to motorsport.
EC: Watching Klara come in and perform the way she did so quickly was fantastic. She was the driver that impressed me the most this season.
DP: My standout driver of the year was Johan Kristoffersson. He has had another remarkable year, not just in Extreme E, and was always showing tremendous speed throughout. That would be my pick.
BG: Another RXR pick, but it would be Mikaela Åhlin-Kottulinsky. I thought she was very impressive throughout the year especially in joining the reigning champions.
XE: Looking at things off course, what was your favourite Legacy Programme?
JM: Although the Uruguay race showcased rather than contributed to this, the example that this country has given about switching to renewable energy is commendable. In barely more than a decade, Uruguay has switched from a fossil fuel energy user to having a grid that is 98% renewable. The developed world should really learn from this.
EC: I also thought the initiatives in Uruguay were really important. Moreover, and I can be a little bit biased here, but I was truly impressed with Extreme E’s work in Sardinia and I am really keen to see how that develops.
DP: The Antofagasta Minerals Copper X Prix was the first event I was able to attend and getting a chance to see the legacy activity first hand there really topped it off. It was great to be part of.
DW: I might be a ‘car guy’ who’s priority on the ground is to cover the racing, but an invite to a Legacy Programme is always a highlight for me when I’m at an Extreme E event.
This year visiting the mine in Chile (there’s a theme developing here, isn’t there?) was a highlight. While Extreme E’s Legacy Programmes tend to highlight environmental and natural issues, the Antofagasta Minerals field trip was eye-opening in a totally different way, allowing us to learn where key things we use every day – and take for granted – come from, and how an industry that’s not exactly regarded for its green credentials is changing for the better.
Oh, and apparently the ‘smallest’ mine on the site was still bigger than most towns. Getting my head round that is still tricky.
XE: What will be your lasting memory of Season 2?
DW: I’m not going to pick out one individual moment, but rather the year as a whole. Extreme E arrived in the midst of a pandemic, swimming against a tide while the whole world wondered if it could even be done.
Season 1 was fine, but Season 2 was where Extreme E firmly proved its point, telling the world ‘we’ve arrived’.
EC: The way the final round in Uruguay unfolded would be my highlight – all of the teams, but particularly those fighting for the championship, really put it all on the line for the win.
BG: That would be mine, too! It was an incredible climax to the season with Lewis Hamilton’s team beating Nico Rosberg’s – the reverse of Season 1.
DP: It was great to see the series visit South America for the first time and I am really looking forward to it returning. The races in Chile and Uruguay were my highlights from 2022.
JM: Extreme E is still a young motorsport, but it’s rapidly coming of age. Watching the ODYSSEY 21s leap over the final hill in NEOM, Saudi Arabia, was glorious. However, it’s the camaraderie that is particularly unique. While this is still a competitive sport, and sparks do fly between drivers, the general sense of shared purpose provides a uniquely positive atmosphere that like no other motor racing series.
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