It was a difficult weekend for both Emma Gilmour (NZ), Tanner Foust (US) and the NEOM McLaren Extreme E team competing in Rounds five and six at the Island X Prix in Sardinia.
“A tough day again for us,” commented Gilmour. “A really difficult day, and a tough weekend overall for us here in Sardinia. We got punished on our starts and it’s a very difficult course to fight back on. The first Qualifying race went well, finishing P3 – the second Qualifying race was much poorer. We got damage to the car and then had to retire from the race, finishing P4.
Foust was in agreement with his co-driver Gilmour, “A very long weekend in Sardinia comes to an end; Round 5 and 6 in the books.
“It started off difficult with some bad luck on the drawing positions, but things didn’t necessarily improve from there. I would say our only real weakness was our start – and unfortunately for us, on this track, as on a lot of Extreme E tracks, the start is really important for the final result. If you are not able to get out as one of the leading cars, then you find yourself fighting for positions and visibility for the rest of the race.”
For both rounds the pairing faced the ‘Redemption’ race, the only way back into the final deciding race for teams that failed to qualify.
“In the second Redemption Race it didn’t get much better,” said Gilmour. “A poor start, followed by again damage to the car, left us unable to fight back. A tough day, with few positives for us here in Sardinia – although the team did amazing work, ensuring the car was repaired on multiple occasion, and was in a good window. We will have to wait another while, till the next event, to be able to bounce back. I am confident we will.”
Rosberg X Racing (RXR) with drivers Mikaela Åhlin-Kottulinsky and Johan Kristoffersson, won both rounds marking back-to-back victories at the Island X Prix, and becoming the first team to do so in the new double-header format.
The haul of championship points sees the team leapfrog Veloce Racing in the standings, with Nico Rosberg’s outfit now sitting just four points off ACCIONA | SAINZ XE Team, who retain their lead at the top of the championship standings with 109-points at the halrway point of the season.
NEOM McLaren sit seventh in the standings on 44-points.
Championship Standings
1/ ACCIONA | SAINZ XE Team: 109 points
2/ Rosberg X Racing: 105 points
3/ Veloce Racing: 95 points
4/ No.99 GMC HUMMER EV Chip Ganassi Racing: 80 points
5/ X44 Vida Carbon Racing: 59 points
6/ Andretti Altawkilat Extreme E: 55 points
7/ NEOM McLaren Extreme E Team: 44 points
8/ ABT CUPRA XE: 40 points
9/ Carl Cox Motorsport: 26 points
10/ JBXE: 26 points
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