Extreme E race 1 report – an Aussie winner and surprisingly good viewing

April 6, 2021April 16, 2021 Iain Curry 1991 Views desert x prix, ev racing, extreme e, Molly taylor

Did you watch it? The inaugural Extreme E season kicked off on the weekend, with the Desert X Prix on the sands of the Saudi Arabian desert proving to be an entertaining – if very dusty – motorsport event.

It was won by former F1 World Champion Nico Rosberg’s team, Rosberg X Racing, with drivers Johan Kristoffersson and Aussie Molly Taylor taking the win.

With coverage across social media and live on YouTube, it was a treat to have free access to FIA-sanctioned motorsport with some huge names behind the wheel of spectacular full-EV racers. Well, until the Final that is. Subscription service Fox Sports/Kayo has exclusive rights to that in Australia.

Nico Rosberg, CEO of Rosberg X Racing with Molly Taylor and Johan Kristoffersson after victory in the 2021 Extreme E Desert X-Prix.

Blinded by dust

The racing was at times spectacular, and on occasion very compromised by the sand and dust being kicked up for following competitors, making visibility and overtaking very tricky. This won’t be an issue in other rounds – Ocean in Senegal, Arctic in Greenland, Amazon in Brazil and Glacier in Argentina.

The race coverage quality was excellent in terms of access, familiar voices in the commentary box and incredible camera work. The spectacular nature of the desert setting was shown off very well, as seen in the highlights video of the semi-finals and finals on the Extreme E YouTube channel (below). You can watch the full coverage (many hours) of qualifying and semi-finals on its YouTube channel if you’re a superfan.

Each Extreme E team consists of two drivers, one male and one female, sharing driving duties, with a driver change half way through.

The 100% electric off-road SUVs look similar to Dakar Rally racers. They’re called Spark Racing Technology-developed Extreme E SUVs – named Odyssey 21 – and have a 400kW electric motor to move their 1650kg mass.

Crashes attract the eyeballs

Those who don’t enjoy a bit of paint swapping in racing are liars, and there were some decent bingles to go with some great racing. Claudia Hürtgen had a massive crash in Q1 after going a dash sideways, with a roll and sandstorm to rival Dakar Rally smashes.

With competing racers of the caliber of WRC legends Carlos Sainz and Sebastien Loeb, 2009 F1 World Champion Jenson Button and two-time DTM champ Mattias Ekstrom, the skill level was expectedly high.

Not to be outdone, 2016 Australian Rally Champion Molly Taylor won the final with co-driver Swede Johan Kristoffersson. Their car lined up alongside the Andretti United pairing of Timmy Hansen and Catie Munnings and the X44 (Lewis Hamilton-backed) car of Sébastien Loeb and Cristina Gutiérrez.

During the race, and after he’d handed over to Molly Taylor to ultimately take the chequered flag, Kristoffersson made it clear the difficulties of close racing in the desert. “I feel sorry for the guys behind; after the third corner it’s not really a race anymore (due to the dust)”.

Claudia Hurtgen (GER)/Mattias Ekstrom (SWE), ABT CUPRA XE at the 2021 Extreme E Desert X Prix

Sébastien Loeb – he of just the nine WRC Championship titles – said he expected his team to do better in the Final, but lost power steering entering the first corner. “Without that, a car this big and heavy is just so difficult to drive and it became a hard battle to keep it on the track,” he explained.

Aussie Molly’s wild skills

As for Molly Taylor, she was expectedly overjoyed at having her considerable talents on this sort of surface reap the rewards. “What an amazing start to the season,” she said. “It feels a bit surreal, with so much anticipation and preparation leading into the weekend and we all came here not really knowing what to expect.

The three teams in the final of the 2021 Extreme E Desert X Prix

“It was definitely extreme. It was the first time we had experienced terrain like that, and on every lap, the course was changing – there were so many different variables to deal with.”

The next round will look very different. The cars will be loaded back onto the St. Helena – Extreme E’s floating centrepiece – to set sail for Lac Rose in Senegal, the setting for the Ocean X Prix on 29/30 May.

It takes some getting used to watching motorsport with near-silent motors, but if this opening fixture is anything to go by, there’s huge entertainment to enjoy thanks to the superb locations, drivers and vehicles.

Iain Curry

A motoring writer and photographer for two decades, Iain started in print magazines in London as editor of Performance BMW and features writer for BMW Car, GT Porsche and 4Drive magazines. His love of motor sport and high performance petrol cars was rudely interrupted in 2011 when he was one of the first journalists to drive BMW's 1 Series ActiveE EV, and has been testing hybrids, PHEVs and EVs for Australian newspapers ever since. Based near Noosa in Queensland, his weekly newspaper articles cover new vehicle reviews and consumer advice, while his photography is regularly seen on the pages of glossy magazines.