Witnessing Motorsport History with Extreme E

Last weekend, I had the privilege of attending the final race of the inaugural Extreme E season. It took place down in Bovington in the South of England and as it was December, it was very very muddy (see pictures below). But that didn't stop me - or anyone else for that matter - from having an absolute blast across the entire weekend. Read on to find out how the weekend went and if you're interested in Extreme E, or want to know more or just like my articles, then follow me here on DriveTribe and keep checking back regularly because there'll be plenty more articles on analysis, scoops and more from Bovington to come over the next few weeks.

Photo Credit: Extreme E Media Centre

Photo Credit: Extreme E Media Centre

Over the course of the weekend, I got to witness all the on track action from both the media tent (quite literally a giant tent) and from the viewing areas by the switch zone where the cars were almost close enough to be able to touch as they went past. I also had access to the paddock and the team tents where each team worked on the cars before and after each session. Unlike other motorsport events, there was a very causal yet professional approach to everything in that people from the teams would happily stop and talk to you and everyone was very welcoming. Due to the nature of the racing itself, none of the teams are massive when it comes to the number of personnel they have - and this really helped to build a community type atmosphere throughout the weekend.

Qualifying for the final round of the season took place on both Friday and Saturday with the cars going out in groups of three. As each Extreme E team has two drivers, both need to drive the car during qualifying. So this meant that one of the drivers would do two laps of the track, then head into the switch zone to swap to the other driver, who would then go and do one more lap around the course. All nine teams would do this twice, once on the Friday and then once on the Saturday. Their lap times would then be put together, with the fastest six teams making it through to the Semi Finals which would take place on Sunday morning. The slowest three would then compete in a Crazy Race later in the day on Saturday with the winner making it through to the final race on Sunday. The Crazy Race, Semi-Finals and Final race would all also consist of three laps with the drivers being swapped around as the weekend went along so that all of the drivers got the same amount of time in the car.

It was pretty cool getting to watch all of this play out in real time and to also go out to the viewing areas beside the track to witness the driver swaps throughout qualifying and the races themselves. Xite Energy Racing's Christine GZ was particularly impressive during qualifying where at one point, she was nine seconds up on the fastest time that had been set so far. As someone who's had to break into the world of motorsport, her improvement over the season has been exceptional and it was very neat to be able to see her in action. Chip Ganassi's Kyle le Duc and JBXE's Mikaela Åhlin-Kottulinsky were also speed demons for both qualifying sessions and deserve a mention here. But once again, it was Lewis Hamilton's X44 team that ended up in first place after Qualifying with Sebastien Loeb and Cristina Gutierrez setting the timing page alight.

The other fun but also surreal part of the weekend was how quickly I got used to seeing and interacting with the drivers and team bosses that were at the Jurassic X Prix. From chatting with RXR's Molly Taylor and Chip Ganassi's Sara Price to watching the Grid Play element of the weekend unfold standing beside the likes of Nico Rosberg (yes that one) Laia Sanz and Carlos Sainz, to interviewing the scientists that have been instrumental in creating and implementing the vital legacy projects at each X Prix and listening to Adrian Newey talking about his involvement with Extreme E, it was all very odd but in a very exuberant way.

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The final races of the season were also awesome to watch as well. It was a shame that not all of the cars could take part in the final race because the performances from all of the teams across the weekend had been incredibly strong. But when it came down to it, it was X44, JBXE, Andretti United, RXR and Acciona Sainz in the final race. X44 needed to both win the race and claim the extra five Championship points by going fastest in the Continental Traction Challenge (each race has a section similar to this to give teams an extra chance at securing championship points) if they wanted to beat RXR in the Championship. For contrast, RXR only needed to finish fourth out of the five cars in the race if they wanted to secure the first ever Extreme E title.

JBXE made a brilliant start off the line with Mikaela Åhlin-Kottulinsky really showcasing her raw talent. But it was X44 who led the way with RXR slipping back slightly and Acciona Sainz bringing up the rear of the grid. The race had some pretty close battles throughout the three laps which got some very audible gasps from the audience watching back in the paddock. The 'Knife Edge' (the big jump in the picture above) was also great to watch as different drivers decided how much to risk it on each lap which resulted in lots of the cars doing some film level stunt like jumps, all in aid of gaining an advantage and trying to get past the cars in front. In the end though, it was X44 who claimed the win - and the bonus five points - which was also their first win of the season. JBXE narrowly beat Andretti United to second place with RXR doing all they needed to do by finishing fourth and thus winning the Championship on a results countback due to being on equal points with X44 come the end of the race. It was brilliant to see such a level playing field across not only the final race but across the whole weekend and was a great way to finish off the first season of Extreme E.

Getting to watch the podium celebrations for the both the race and the Championship was also pretty special and funny as the drivers inevitably snuck up on other team members to pour Champagne over them. Jenson Button saw it coming and decided to use his manager as a human shield but this backfired on him later on when Kevin Hansen snuck up on him from behind and poured it down the back of his neck. Given that it wasn't particularly warm on Sunday, I can only imagine that wasn't the best experience! But it wasn't as messy as RXR's celebrations as Nico Rosberg, Molly Taylor and Johan Kristoffersson decided to have a mud wrestling match together after their podium celebrations that sent other drivers running away so they wouldn't be pulled into the fray!

All in all, it was a brilliant weekend and a great way to end the 2021 racing season. To anyone reading this who hasn't either heard of Extreme E before or is unsure about watching it, I can highly recommend that you give it a chance and have a look at it over the festive period. The new season of Extreme E is due to kick off on the 19th February 2022 in Saudi Arabia so that gives you all plenty of time to get caught up!

Extreme E has also really shown the path forwards when it comes to incorporating both male and female drivers into competing on equal terms alongside one another. Whilst the likes of Loeb, Kristoffersson and Sainz were all fantastic over the weekend as you would expect, it was also brilliant to see Munnings and Åhlin-Kottulinsky battling it out on track and Jamie Chadwick putting on a strong performance - given that she's had very little seat time this year due to her W Series commitments. I also loved getting the chance to speak with Professor David Washington and Professor Francisco Oliveira about how they came to be involved with Extreme E, why the legacy projects are so important and why motorsport is actually a really great way to help raise awareness and promote solutions to climate related problems around the world.

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I could probably go on and on about this weekend for a while (like by talking about the animated dinosaur that featured on the live TV coverage over the weekend) but I'll leave it here for now. As I said above, if you're interested to find out more, keep your eyes peeled for more Extreme E content, both from this past weekend and as we head into Season II next year.

Did you watch the Jurassic X Prix? If not, would you be interested in checking it out next year? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.