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Advantage Rosberg X Racing in eventful opening qualifying

Rosberg X Racing topped the times in an eventful first qualifying session of the inaugural Extreme E weekend.

The X44 duo of Sebastien Loeb and Cristina Gutierrez were first out and remanded top of the order through the first half of the session, but were bumped down to P2 as Johan Kristoffersson and Molly Taylor set a 10m43.565s time.

Acciona Sainz XE Team was the only other team to run without an issue, finishing P3 overall.

Qualifying consisted of each team heading out one by one. Both drivers completed a lap, with the time taken to switch drivers contributing to the team’s overall time. The order in which the teams went out was decided by a draw.

Only a handful of teams got a relatively clean run. After X44’s impressive performance, the JBXE squad endured a lengthy stoppage during their second lap. Mikaela Ahlin-Kottulinsky was able to get the car going again, but more than a minute and a half down on the X44 time.

Andretti United suffered a slow puncture on their first lap, forcing Catie Munnings to go the entire lap with a deflating tyre. Despite the car crabbing, she kept pushing and the team ended the session P4 overall.

A power steering problem for the Chip Ganassi Racing car meant both drivers battled to keep the car pointing in the right direction. The final team to set a time, they ended the session P7, behind the Hispano Suiza Xite Energy Team, who were handed a 75s penalty for speeding in the Switch Zone.

Neither the Abt Cupra XE or Veloce Racing teams completed their runs. Stephan Sarrazin, who was out first for Veloce, rolled early in his lap. Though he landed with all four wheels on the ground, he didn’t get going again. The Abt run car had already made it round the circuit once before a dramatic roll for Claudia Hurtgen brought out the red flags and ended their session.

The final qualifying order will be determined after this afternoon’s session, when each team will have two more laps to earn points and try to earn a spot in the Semi-Final.

Image courtesy of Extreme E

 

Bethonie Waring

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