After coming up short in the 2023 Extreme E championship pursuit, ACCIONA | Sainz XE Team will run it back with Laia Sanz while adding Fraser McConnell to replace the outgoing Mattias Ekström.
McConnell moves over from X44, who won twice in his first full year in the series but shut down at season’s end. Primarily a rallycross driver, he entered Extreme E as the Championship Driver in mid-2022 before making his début at that year’s Energy X Prix with JBXE. The team finished ninth in that round.
“Receiving the call from Carlos (Sainz) asking me to join the team was such a surreal moment for me because growing up I was such a big fan and still to this day, he is such an inspiration,” said McConnell. “He is also still such a fierce competitor so having that energy within the team is definitely going to help us win races and I am sure I will be able to learn many things from him.”
Meanwhile, Sanz and Ekström spearheaded ACCIONA | Sainz’s breakout season as they won twice but finished fifteen points shy of the championship. Ekström has since departed for McLaren.
Sainz and Sanz will return to Saudi Arabia for the XE season opener on 17/18 February, a month after the former won the Dakar Rally for the fourth time. Sanz finished fifteenth in the top-level Ultimate category.
“The team has grown a lot throughout this time and we have grown together,” commented Sanz, who has raced in Extreme E since the inaugural season in 2021. “Last year we did a great job, even though we narrowly missed the title, and I am looking forward to continuing down this path. Today we feel like a family, we work really well together, always in sync, and I think it is very positive to continue to keep on improving. For me personally, I am really happy to continue in this team and I am eager to start the season. I think it is the best place to continue learning and fighting for victories.”
