Molly Taylor from the Rosberg X Racing team secured the outfit’s second win in a row at the inaugural Extreme E racing series in Senegal on Sunday. The Ocean X Prix finale was full of drama after a crash between the Rosberg outfit and his former Mercedes Formula 1 teammate Lewis Hamilton’s team at the first corner.
Cristina Gutierrez in Hamilton’s X44 car and leader Molly Taylor for Rosberg X Racing battled threw early punches challenging sandy conditions, and it was the Spaniard who came off worse in the exchange. The X44 car sustained damage to its right-front wheel and its afternoon came to a spluttering halt.
Meanwhile, Jenson Button, another British Formula 1 world champion saw his JBXE challenger also suffer an early crash in the 12,6 kilometre-long finale. JBXE driver Mikaela Ahlin-Kottulinsky veered into the next lane on the beach and pummelled into a sand bank which wrenched here rear-right wheel off.
With Hamilton and Button’s teams quite literally beached, it resulted in a straight shootout between Taylor and Veloce Racing’s Stephane Sarrazin, who found himself over 1,50 seconds behind the 2016 Australian Rally champion heading towards the driver change over zone.
The race was then red flagged as race director Scott Elkins needed a gap to allow the X44 and JBXE cars to be recovered.
The moment it was all over for @TeamX44 and @jbxeracing 💔@cris_tortu and @MikaelaAhlinK are casualties of the final. #ExtremeE #OceanXPrix pic.twitter.com/HGm0hBgVIu
— Extreme E (@ExtremeELive) May 30, 2021
The race restarted with three-time World RallyCross champion Johan Kristoffersson in the Rosberg car battling Veloce Racing’s Jamie Chadwick. The Swedish driver nailed the restart and finished the second and final lap to win by 14 seconds.
The overall result saw the JBXE team grab the final podium place by virtue of completing more of the first lap than fourth-placed X44.
Rosberg’s team now lead Hamilton’s X44 by 14 points after two races with Button’s outfit in third place.
The Extreme E series was founded to create awareness around climate change and takes place in remote areas around the world. All the off-road racing cars are electrically-powered and teams must feature a female driver.
Next up on the calendar is the Arctic X Prix in Greenland on August 28-29.
Have a look at all the drama that happened in the finale:
WHAT A FINALE 🔥
Watch how @rosbergxracing won the Ocean X Prix in 60 seconds – or click the link to watch extended highlights!🔥👏#ExtremeE #OceanXPrix
— Extreme E (@ExtremeELive) May 30, 2021
