After running the first two Extreme E seasons as Andretti United XE, the team has been renamed Andretti ALTAWKILAT Extreme E for the 2023 championship to reflect an expanded partnership with ALTAWKILAT.
Owned by Universal Motors Agencies, ALTAWKILAT is a Saudi automotive dealership company that has operated for over seventy-five years. It is closely affiliated with General Motors and therefore includes GM’s brands like Chevrolet and GMC (a partner of fellow XE team Chip Ganassi Racing), while non-GM makes under ALTAWKILAT’s coverage include Dongfeng, Infiniti, and Maserati. The company has worked with Andretti since 2021.
The deal makes ALTAWKILAT the second entity in Saudi Arabia to hold naming rights to an Extreme E team after NEOM joined McLaren XE in 2022. It also comes a month before the season-opening Desert X Prix in NEOM.
“We are delighted and honoured to partner with Andretti, a legend in motorsports,” said ALTAWKILAT CEO Mohammed Abduljawad. “We admire the great work done by the Andretti team through its Extreme E programme to bring awareness of the effects of global warming and to demonstrate the use of alternate mobility solutions such as electric vehicles.
“We are privileged to be associated with the team from Season 3 and hope to play an active role in bringing awareness for the use of alternate energy sources to reduce air pollution and the need to protect the planet from the effects of global warming.
“During the Desert X Prix event in NEOM, ALTAWKILAT will be launching a major community programme coinciding with Earth Day that will educate the local population on the need to protect our environment.”
The previous name of Andretti United comes from the team being a joint effort between Andretti Autosport and United Autosports. Despite being dropped from the new identity, United will continue to hold an equity stake in the team. Incidentally, United’s owner Zak Brown is the CEO of McLaren including the XE division, though he has stressed that he is not involved with the Andretti outfit as he focuses on McLaren XE.
“ALTAWKILAT has been a part of our Extreme E journey from the beginning, and we are happy to have our relationship grow to form Andretti ALTAWKILAT Extreme E,” added team owner Michael Andretti, who oversees the day-to-day operations. “ALTAWKILAT shares our interest in supporting the mission of Extreme E as a sport for purpose. Like Andretti, ALTAWKILAT’s passion for motorsport runs deep and to do it together in this all-electric form of motorsport is a chapter we look forward to.”
As they have since 2021, the team will field Catie Munnings and Timmy Hansen, both of whom signed multi-year contract extensions in November. The duo finished seventh in the 2022 standings with a podium at the second Island X Prix.
