Attrition and low visibility due to mud were key issues in Sunday’s Hydro X Prix, but Veloce Racing was not fazed in the slightest as Kevin Hansen and Molly Taylor won their second heat and led all four laps of the Grand Final to secure their second win of the Extreme E season. While it has only been four races, Veloce is already the first team in 2023 with multiple victories after taking the season opener.
In their new red livery, Veloce held off a late charge from McLaren XE, who had to settle for second in their first final of the season. Although they came up short of victory, runner-up was still a strong rebound for McLaren after being among the many victims of the heat races; during the first lap of Heat #1 in Qualifying #2, Emma Gilmour drifted into the hay bales while racing Timo Scheider who also crashed into them as did Klara Andersson while trying to avoid them.
Chip Ganassi Racing joined Veloce and McLaren on the podium as the last finisher. ACCIONA | Sainz XE Team and Rosberg X Racing had wrecked together, with RXR’s Mikaela Åhlin-Kottulinsky describing the race as a “mud-blinded final with wipers out of action”.
Saturday winner X44 struggled on Sunday as they fell behind in the first heat due to damage before crashing out of the Redemption Race. Carl Cox Motorsport failed to start the latter following the aforementioned heat accident.
