- The Spanish team leads the Extreme E Championship by 18 points after clinching a race victory in the first round of the Island X Prix II.
Perfect Saturday for the ACCIONA | SAINZ XE Team on the first day of Sardinia’s Island X Prix II, where Laia Sanz and Mattias Ekström clinched a race victory in the Grand Final that strengthened their position in the lead of the Extreme E Championship.
The Spanish team scored 25 points for the race victory and two more bonus points for winning both Qualifying heats. This means that the edge to the second-placed team, Rosberg X Racing, grows from 4 to 18 points.
The first Qualifying was hectic. It was decided in the driver change, where Laia Sanz passed the Carl Cox car. She moved up to the lead and clinched the first win of the day, plus its bonus point.
In the second heat, Sanz took first place with a great start and stayed there all the way. Mattias Ekström got in the car in the driver change and finished the work, securing another triumph for the team.
With 20 Qualifying points under the belt out of 20 points possible, ACCIONA | SAINZ XE Team advanced to the Final. And it was there that the Spanish team confirmed that it is a title contender.
The key to the victory was at the start, where Mattias Ekström moved up from fourth to first with a brave move around the outside of the first corner. Laia Sanz finished the job, clinching the team’s second race victory.
With these results, ACCIONA | SAINZ XE Team leads the Extreme E Championship with 136 points in total with three events still to go. The second classified team, Rosberg X Racing, trails by 18 points. The third, Veloce Racing, is 26 points behind.
The Island X Prix will finish tomorrow Sunday with the eighth round of the calendar.
Quotes:
Laia Sanz, driver:
"Today was a perfect day, one of the best we have enjoyed so far in Extreme E. This doesn’t happen very often, because everything can happen in this Championship. Mattias made a massive start in the Final. Both of us did really well in the Qualifying heats. We did a good job. We are happy and today we will enjoy it, but at the same time, we are still focused on tomorrow. We want this Championship and we must keep fighting."
Mattias Ekström, driver:
"I think it was a really good day. We felt good yesterday in the dry and today with the watered track. We had a good set-up, good strategy, and two good Qualifying heats. I think the key to the race win was the first corner at the start. I made a move around the outside and went from P4 to P1, and after this, I had a clean windscreen and beautiful, enjoyable few laps. I enjoyed it a lot. Laia made no mistakes, she was very clean. We did a really good job today."
Carlos Sainz:
"I am really, really happy with the race win and with how today turned out to be. The team did an incredible job. Laia and Mattias did an impeccable Saturday. A great start from Mattias in the Final, despite the fact that we were not in the best starting position. He moved up to first and Laia finished the work. Congratulations to both of them and to the entire team. Today they made me a really happy man."
Joan Orús, Team Principal:
"The weekend has been incredible so far, but today is still Saturday, and tomorrow we will try to repeat the same result. We were looking precisely for this, for a race victory to fight for the Championship. Today was such a perfect day and we must enjoy it, but we are already thinking about tomorrow."