Wednesday, October 9, 2024

X44 closes Island X Prix II with Sunday victory

After a disastrous Saturday in which they bowed out of the Redemption Race to finish a measly ninth in the classification, X44 Vida Carbon Racing rebounded Sunday to win the Island X Prix II‘s second Grand Final.

Fraser McConnell and Cristina Gutiérrez edged out Rosberg X Racing, who swept the first Island X Prix in July, in the Grand Final to score their second win of 2023. ABT CUPRA XE, whose driver Sébastien Loeb won the 2022 championship for X44, joined them on the podium.

“Cristina and I had our heads down and drove four strong clean laps in the final,” said McConnell. “As always, the team worked tirelessly to make sure the car was in top shape.”

JBXE retired from the Grand Final with a front end failure, ending an otherwise dramatic run to the feature after losing a sprint to the finish with Chip Ganassi Racing.

Veloce Racing claimed the Redemption Race after a messy qualifying plagued by electrical issues.

“We looked really good during the first qualifying session, but then had a failure on the electrical side which we didn’t have any control over,” explained Veloce’s Kevin Hansen. “In the second session, we only had slight contact but it broke the power steering, and from there we gathered back together nicely and made the right choices.

“In the Redemption Race, I had a nice two laps, and was so happy to hand the car over to Molly (Taylor) in the lead. She did a great job to bring it home, so it was a great finish to the day and we’re still in the championship race. We just need to give it everything we’ve got in Chile in two months’ time.”

Saturday winner ACCIONA | Sainz XE Team struggled on Sunday but holds a three-point edge over RXR in the championship.

McLaren XE did not race Sunday after a wreck the previous day.

Grand Final results

Finish Number Team Total Time Driver #1 Driver #2
1 44 X44 Vida Carbon Racing 10:08.030 Fraser McConnell Cristina Gutiérrez
2 6 Rosberg X Racing 10:13.843 Johan Kristoffersson Mikaela Åhlin-Kottulinsky
3 125 ABT CUPRA XE 10:16.651 Sébastien Loeb Klara Andersson
4 99 GMC Hummer EV Chip Ganassi Racing 10:21.886 RJ Anderson Amanda Sorensen
5 22 JBXE DNF Hedda Hosås Andreas Bakkerud
* – Received a penalty

Redemption Race results

Finish Number Team Total Time Driver #1 Driver #2
1 5 Veloce Racing 9:39.903 Kevin Hansen Molly Taylor
2 23 Andretti ALTAWKILAT Extreme E 9:46.002 Timmy Hansen Catie Munnings
3 8 Carl Cox Motorsport 9:50.32 Timo Scheider Lia Block
4 55 ACCIONA | Sainz XE Team 10:36.377 Mattias Ekström Laia Sanz
5 58 NEOM McLaren XE DNS Tanner Foust Tamara Molinaro

Qualifying results

Round #1

Heat #1

Finish Number Team Total Time Driver #1 Driver #2
1 125 ABT CUPRA XE 9:51.079 Sébastien Loeb Klara Andersson
2 22 JBXE 9:57.419 Hedda Hosås Andreas Bakkerud
3 44 X44 Vida Carbon Racing 10:56.928* Fraser McConnell Cristina Gutiérrez
4 5 Veloce Racing DNF Kevin Hansen Molly Taylor
5 8 Carl Cox Motorsport DNF Timo Scheider Lia Block

Heat #2

Finish Number Team Total Time Driver #1 Driver #2
1 55 ACCIONA | Sainz XE Team 9:53.948 Mattias Ekström Laia Sanz
2 6 Rosberg X Racing 9:53.559 Johan Kristoffersson Mikaela Åhlin-Kottulinsky
3 99 GMC Hummer EV Chip Ganassi Racing 9:54.475 RJ Anderson Amanda Sorensen
4 23 Andretti ALTAWKILAT Extreme E 8:36.271 Timmy Hansen Catie Munnings
5 58 NEOM McLaren XE DNS Tanner Foust Tamara Molinaro

Round #2

Heat #1

Finish Number Team Total Time Driver #1 Driver #2
1 44 X44 Vida Carbon Racing 9:29.983 Cristina Gutiérrez Fraser McConnell
2 125 ABT CUPRA XE 9:40.661 Klara Andersson Sébastien Loeb
3 6 Rosberg X Racing 9:41.242* Mikaela Åhlin-Kottulinsky Johan Kristoffersson
4 23 Andretti ALTAWKILAT Extreme E 9:43.717 Catie Munnings Timmy Hansen
5 8 Carl Cox Motorsport 9:51.420 Lia Block Timo Scheider

Heat #2

Finish Number Team Total Time Driver #1 Driver #2
1 99 GMC Hummer EV Chip Ganassi Racing 10:05.384 Amanda Sorensen RJ Anderson
2 22 JBXE 10:06.898 Andreas Bakkerud Hedda Hosås
3 5 Veloce Racing 15:55.066 Molly Taylor Kevin Hansen
4 55 ACCIONA | Sainz XE Team DNF Laia Sanz Mattias Ekström
5 58 NEOM McLaren XE DNS Tanner Foust Tamara Molinaro
\