Neustadt, 27. November 2022. The misfortunes continued for Rosberg X Racing during the finale of the 2022 Extreme E season in Punta del Este, Uruguay, and ultimately cost them their second Championship title in Extreme E.
After yesterday’s disappointing qualifying results, leaving the team with a damaged car and last in the standings, RXR put all hopes into the Crazy Race. In order to get through to the final, Mikaela Åhlin-Kottulinsky and Johan Kristoffersson knew they needed to beat their contender X44 Vida Carbon Racing in the four-car shoot-out session, so the pressure was high for the team to pass the finish line first.
Starting from P2, both favourites battled in the front. with X44 ultimately taking the lead; it looked like a promising course of events, but then Åhlin-Kottulinsky got involved in a series of collisions, which caused her steering to break and both front wheels point toward each other. Åhlin-Kottulinsky had a hard time bringing the ODYSSEY21 back into the switch zone, but the Swede kept her cool and used the handbrake to change direction.
With Kristoffersson taking over, the team had one chance left: to win the Continental traction challenge and clinch the title with a perfect run by the four-time Rallycross Champion. Unfortunately, his ODYSSEY21 needed a lot of repairs and while the team worked hard and miraculously managed to get the car back to race, RXR were ultimately disqualified for a switch zone infringement before Kristoffersson could prove his worth. Consequently, the team had no other choice but to watch the final race from the sidelines and hope for their contender to finish outside of the top three.
The race was heart-wrenching to witness for the 2021 Champions: While X44 couldn’t find a way to overtake Andretti United Extreme E, struggling with dust and unable to get to the top three on its own merits, RXR lost the Championship during the very last minute, due to a 7-seconds penalty imposed on Andretti United catapulting X44 to P3 – enough for them to steal the Championship from RXR.
Kimmo Liimatainen, Team Principal Rosberg X Racing, commented: “This is obviously a devastating end to our Championship dreams. But second place is still something to be proud of. I want to thank our world class drivers who gave it their all the entire season, our team of technicians and engineers who defied the odds by getting our car back up and running, our partners who share our vision for a more sustainable future, the team behind-the-scenes, and of course… our incredible fans. We will be back.”
Mikaela Åhlin-Kottulinsky, Rosberg X Racing driver, said: “The weekend was incredibly tough, and naturally, this is not what we had expected. But I want to focus on the positives: we had a very strong season overall and can be proud of our performance. The team has done such an amazing job and gave us the best possible car, so I am very thankful to them, as well as our fans.”
Rosberg X Racing driver, Johan Kristoffersson, added: “We would have liked to fight for the Championship this weekend, and we are disappointed that we didn’t take part in the battle to show our best here in Uruguay. But that’s racing. And while it is frustrating to lose out on the title at the last minute, we are also proud of our overall achievement and we will fight again in 2023.”
ENDS
Notes to editors:
About Rosberg X Racing
Rosberg X Racing was founded in 2020 ahead of the inaugural season of Extreme E. Led by 2016 Formula One World Champion and sustainability entrepreneur Nico Rosberg, the team is an evolution of Team Rosberg, founded in 1994 by Nico’s father and 1982 F1 World Champion, Keke Rosberg. The team has successfully competed in various racing series, including Formula BMW, Formula 3 and the German Touring Masters Championship (DTM), claiming a total of 38 DTM victories as well as three drivers and two team championship titles. RXR builds on Team Rosberg’s success as well as Nico’s post-F1 career as an entrepreneur in the field of sustainable mobility. In 2021, the team won the first-ever Championship title of Extreme E.
RXR is based in Neustadt, Germany, and aims to succeed both on the racetrack and in raising awareness and education in the fight against climate change. Inspired by Extreme E’s mission to leave a positive legacy at each of the series’ various race venues, the team is committed to using motorsport as a platform to serve a greater purpose together with all teams and drivers. To this end, it has launched its own campaign, Driven By Purpose.
Nico Rosberg is the CEO and founder of the team, while Kimmo Liimatainen takes on the role of team principal. In 2022, the two Swedes Mikaela Åhlin-Kottulinsky and Johan Kristoffersson are at the wheel of the ODYSSEY21.
www.rosbergxracing.com
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