- Laia Sanz and Carlos Sainz keep their title hopes alive after finishing second in the Qualifying of the Energy X Prix; their two biggest competitors will be in the Crazy Race.
ACCIONA | SAINZ XE Team finished second in the Qualifying of the Energy X Prix, tightening the fight for the Extreme E Championship on the eve of the decisive day. The Spanish team will try to make its way to the Final from the grid of the second semi-final and his two main competitors will be in the Crazy Race, meaning that one of them won’t be in the final round.
Laia Sanz and Carlos Sainz went quickest in the first Qualifying session, which was quite eventful. The mechanics had to do a last-minute fix to the electronics of the Odyssey 21 due to an issue in a component made by a provider and thus the appearance of the car on track was delayed for a few minutes. Still, the drivers repaid their effort with the fastest time of the session: 10:14.120.
In the heat of the second Qualifying session, Carlos did a great start to put the team in second place and Laia got behind the wheel in the switch zone and brought the car home in second place, avoiding the dust of the car in front and any big risks. It was the perfect ending to a really positive day for the team.
The combined results of both sessions (18 points, 10 from first place in Q1 and 8 from second place in Q2) meant the ASXE Team was the second-best team of the day. It now advances to the second Semi-Final, where it will face Andretti and McLaren for a spot in the Final.
The Extreme E Championship will be decided tomorrow. In order for Carlos Sainz and Laia Sanz to win the Drivers’ title, one of the possible combinations would be winning the Final and having Rosberg X Racing outside of the podium and X44 no further than third. Its two main competitors will be in the Crazy Race, meaning that one of them won’t be able to advance to the Final.
EXTREME E SURPRISES IN PUNTA DEL ESTE
Carlos Sainz and Laia Sanz took part last Thursday in a spectacular car parade through the streets of Punta del Este with their Odyssey 21. Thousands of local fans gathered along the 2.7-kilometre route to witness the show.
Besides driving their electric off-road vehicle, the ASXE Team drivers also signed autographs for their supporters and met the local and national authorities that welcomed the championship.
This was the first time that Extreme E put together an event of these characteristics.
Quotes:
Carlos Sainz, driver:
“Positive first day here at the Energy X Prix in Uruguay. We were the fastest team in the first qualifying and we managed to finish second in the heat of the second session. It will be tough to make it to the Final tomorrow because both Semi-Finals will be really tight, but today we made another step forward and I am happy. Now let’s focus on tomorrow.”
Laia Sanz, driver:
“Today was a really positive day. Yesterday our pace was solid in Qualifying, but we worked to improve the car even further for today. Qualifying 1 went really well for us, especially considering all the crashes that happened. We decided to take a cautious approach and we were the fastest team. It became pretty obvious in the races of Qualifying 2 that everything was very tight, but we did a really good job to finish in second place. Carlos did a great start and we didn’t take big risks. Today the things that happened played in our favor, but tomorrow is another day. We have to do our job and hope for some luck.”
Joan Orús, Team Principal:
“Today we proved that we can win this Championship. We were the fastest team in Qualifying 1 and finished second in our heat in Q2. We proved we are there. Tomorrow we will fight for everything. Our rivals for the Championship will be in the Crazy Race, so we already know that one of them won’t make it to the Final. We will fight all the way.”