Johan Kristoffersson and Molly Taylor handed Nico Rosberg’s RXR team victory in the first race of the Extreme E series as competitors took on the Desert X-Prix.
There was drama in before the final as the SEGI TV Chip Ganassi Racing and ABT Cupra XE fought it out in the shootout race, it didn’t last long as Kyle LeDuc ended a disapointing weekend crashing in to the rear of Claudia Hürtgen in the dust of the desert.
Moving on to the main event, Sébastien Loeb, Johan Kristoffersson and Timmy Hansen lined up for the start with the other drivers watching on from the Extreme E command centre as the tension built up for the first ever Final race.
Hansen used Hyperdrive off of the start line, building a gap from the start, in to the lead. Over the next few corners Kristoffersson moved into second place making up some time.
It wouldn’t be long before Kristoffersson moved in to the lead, pulling out an impressive gap of over twenty seconds at the front of the field.
As the reigning World Rallycross champion came in to the driver change he had built a gap of 30-seconds as he handed over to Molly Taylor.
By the time Catie Munnings had made out of the pits, Taylor had disapeared in a cloud of dust, resuming the 30-second lead as both drivers used their Hyperdrive boost.
Cristina Gutiérrez took over the reigns from Loeb, but by this point it looked like the positions had been decided in the opening stages of the race.
Taylor pushed on in the Rosberg X Racing machine to take an impressive victory, finishing ahead of the Andretti United Extreme E car by 23.73 seconds. The X44 rounded out the podium, 1:38.09 down on the lead time.
