2021 Extreme E Championship

The 2021 Extreme E Championship was the inaugural season of the Extreme E electric off-road racing series. It started on 3 April with the Desert X-Prix in Saudi Arabia.^[1]

2021 Extreme E Championship

Drivers' Champions:
Johan Kristoffersson
Molly Taylor
Teams' Champion:
Rosberg X Racing

Previous

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Next

2022

Johan Kristoffersson (left) and Molly Taylor (right) won the championship for Rosberg X Racing.

Calendar

A provisional race schedule was announced on 17 December 2019, which would have seen a season start in January 2021 with an event in Senegal.^[2] But because of delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic the start of the season was pushed back to spring 2021, and a race in Patagonia was presented to replace a Nepal-based event.^[3] On 11 June 2021, both South American events –planned to be held in Ushuaia, Argentina and Santarém, Brazil– were cancelled, with championship CEO Alejandro Agag stating they are "seeking alternate destinations".^[4] In late July, the Island X-Prix on Sardinia was announced as the first replacement race.^[5] A Jurassic X-Prix, due to take place in Dorset, was revealed in October as the new season finale.^[6]

Lac Rose

Al-'Ula

Kangerlussuaq

Sardinia

Dorset

Locations of the 2021 races

Round	Dates	Event	Location
1	3–4 April 2021	Desert X-Prix	Al-'Ula, Saudi Arabia
2	29–30 May 2021	Ocean X-Prix	Lac Rose, Senegal
3	28–29 August 2021	Arctic X-Prix	Kangerlussuaq, Greenland
4	23–24 October 2021	Island X-Prix	Sardinia, Italy
5	18–19 December 2021	Jurassic X-Prix	Dorset, United Kingdom

The following events were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic:

Original Dates	Event	Location
14–15 May 2021	Mountain X-Prix	Kali Gandaki Gorge, Nepal
23–24 October 2021	Amazon X-Prix	Santarém, Brazil
11–12 December 2021	Glacier X-Prix	Ushuaia, Argentina

Race format

A race weekend consists of two rounds of qualifying time trials on Saturday, followed by multi-car races on Sunday. At the Desert X-Prix all races were intended for three cars: a semi-final from which two teams advanced to the final, a "crazy race" from which only one team advanced and a shoot-out for the bottom three places, culminating in a three-car final.^[7] The format was tweaked for round two in Senegal, where two teams each from two semi-finals advance to the final which is competed by four teams. Additionally, a "super sector" is introduced, where five extra points are awarded to the fastest team through that sector over the whole weekend.^[8] Further alterations were introduced for round three in Greenland, most notably a five-car final with one team progressing from the erstwhile shoot-out, now called "crazy race". An intermediate classification points system was also implemented, with teams receiving points from 9 down to 1 according to their place in each qualifying session; the sum of these, rather than aggregate times, determining their overall qualifying position. These classification points would not contribute to overall championship points.^[9] Another rule adjustment was introduced at the season finale in Dorset to accommodate the short nature of the circuit, each session now consisting of three laps, with the starting driver, who in the final would be the female driver, taking the first two.^[10]

Teams and drivers

Extreme E car: the Odyssey 21

The following teams and drivers competed in the 2021 championship. All teams use one of the identical Odyssey 21 electric SUVs manufactured by Spark Racing Technology, with Chip Ganassi Racing running a modified bodywork.^[11] Each team consists of a male and a female driver, who share a car and have equal driving duties.^[12]

Team	No.	Drivers	Rounds
Veloce Racing[13]	5	Jamie Chadwick[14]	1–2, 5
		Emma Gilmour[15]	3–4
		Stéphane Sarrazin[16]	1–4
		Lance Woolridge[17]	5
Rosberg X Racing[18]	6	Johan Kristoffersson[19]	All
		Molly Taylor[20]	All
JBXE[21]	22	Jenson Button[21]	1
		Kevin Hansen[22]	2–5
		Mikaela Åhlin-Kottulinsky[23]	All
Andretti United Extreme E[24][25]	23	Catie Munnings[26]	All
		Timmy Hansen[26]	All
Hispano Suiza Xite Energy Team[27] Xite Energy Racing[28][N 1]	42	Christine GZ[27]	All
		Oliver Bennett[27]	All
Team X44[29]	44	Cristina Gutiérrez[30]	All
		Sébastien Loeb[30]	All
Acciona | Sainz XE Team[31]	55	Carlos Sainz[31]	All
		Laia Sanz[31]	All
Segi TV Chip Ganassi Racing[32]	99	Kyle LeDuc[33]	All
		Sara Price[32]	All
Abt Cupra XE[34]	125	Claudia Hürtgen[34]	1–2[N 2]
		Jutta Kleinschmidt[35][36]	2–5
		Mattias Ekström[37]	All

Championship reserve drivers

Drivers	Rounds
Jutta Kleinschmidt[38]	1–2
Tamara Molinaro[39]	3–5
Timo Scheider[40]	All

Mid-season changes

• JBXE team owner Jenson Button only drove the first round and then replaced himself with Kevin Hansen.^[41]
• Claudia Hürtgen fell ill after the Ocean X-Prix shakedown and had to be replaced by championship reserve driver Jutta Kleinschmidt.^[42] Later it was announced that Kleinschmidt would take over the Abt Cupra seat for the remainder of the season.^[43]
• Jamie Chadwick missed rounds 3 and 4 because of W Series commitments and was replaced by Veloce reserve driver Emma Gilmour.^[44]
• Stéphane Sarrazin parted ways with Veloce prior to the final round of the season. He was replaced by the team's male reserve driver, Lance Woolridge.^[17]

Results and standings

X-Prix

Round	Event	Qualifying 1	Qualifying 2	Qualifying Overall	Semi-Final 1	Semi-Final 2[N 3]	Crazy Race[N 4]	Super Sector[N 5]	Final	Report
1	Desert X-Prix	Rosberg X Racing	Team X44	Team X44	Rosberg X Racing	Andretti United XE	Abt Cupra XE	not awarded	Rosberg X Racing	Report
2	Ocean X-Prix	Team X44	Team X44	Team X44	Rosberg X Racing	JBXE	Chip Ganassi Racing	Chip Ganassi Racing	Rosberg X Racing	Report
3	Arctic X-Prix	Team X44	Rosberg X Racing	Team X44	Team X44	Andretti United XE	JBXE	Andretti United XE	Andretti United XE	Report
4	Island X-Prix	Team X44	Team X44	Team X44	Chip Ganassi Racing	Rosberg X Racing	JBXE	Team X44	Rosberg X Racing	Report
5	Jurassic X-Prix	Team X44	Team X44	Team X44	Team X44	Rosberg X Racing	Andretti United XE	Team X44	Team X44	Report

Scoring system

Points are awarded to the top nine drivers based on aggregate qualifying standings, as well as the top nine finishers. From the second round on, an additional 5 points are given to the fastest team in the Super Sector over the whole weekend.

Position	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	SS
Qualifying	12	11	10	9	8	7	6	5	4	5[N 6]
Race day	25	19	18	15	12	10	8	6	4

Only the best four X-Prix results count towards the drivers' championship.

Drivers' Championship standings

Pos. Driver DES OCE ARC ISL JUR Points Q R Q R Q R Q R Q R 1 Johan Kristoffersson Molly Taylor 3 1 2 1 3 5 2 1 2 4 133 2 Cristina Gutiérrez Sébastien Loeb 1 3 1 4 1 4 1* 5 1 1* 121 3 Catie Munnings Timmy Hansen 4 2 8 9 4* 1 6 6 7 3 103 4 Mikaela Åhlin-Kottulinsky 6 6 4 3 8 2 7 3 5 2 102 4 Kevin Hansen 4 3 8 2 7 3 5 2 102 5 Carlos Sainz Laia Sanz 2 4 9 8 6 3 4 7 3 5 90 6 Mattias Ekström 8 7 3 5 2 7 3 2 4 7 87 6 Jutta Kleinschmidt 3 5 2 7 3 2 4 7 87 7 Sara Price 7 8 7* 7 7 9 5 4 8 8 60 7 Stéphane Sarrazin 9 WD 5 2 5 6 8 8 60 8 Kyle LeDuc 7 8 7* 7 7 9 5 4 8 8 59[N 7] 9 Christine GZ Oliver Bennett 5 5 6 6 9 8 9 9 9 9 55 10 Jamie Chadwick 9 WD 5 2 6 6 48 11 Emma Gilmour 5 6 8 8 29 12 Jenson Button 6 6 17 12 Lance Woolridge 6 6 17 13 Claudia Hürtgen 8 7 WD WD 13 Pos. Driver DES OCE ARC ISL JUR Points

Key Colour Result Gold Winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green Other points position Black Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Withdrew (WD) Race cancelled (C) * – Fastest in Super Sector

Teams' Championship standings

Pos. Team DES OCE ARC ISL JUR Points Q R Q R Q R Q R Q R 1 Rosberg X Racing 3 1 2 1 3 5 2 1 2 4 155 2 Team X44 1 3 1 4 1 4 1* 5 1 1* 155 3 JBXE 6 6 4 3 8 2 7 3 5 2 119 4 Andretti United Extreme E 4 2 8 9 4* 1 6 6 7 3 117 5 Abt Cupra XE 8 7 3 5 2 7 3 2 4 7 100 6 Acciona | Sainz XE Team 2 4 9 8 6 3 4 7 3 5 100 7 Veloce Racing 9 WD 5 2 5 6 8 8 6 6 77 8 Segi TV Chip Ganassi Racing 7 8 7* 7 7 9 5 4 8 8 74[N 7] 9 Hispano Suiza Xite Energy Team Xite Energy Racing 5 5 6 6 9 8 9 9 9 9 63 Pos. Team DES OCE ARC ISL JUR Points

Notes

1. Hispano Suiza Xite Energy Team rebranded as Xite Energy Racing ahead of round 2.
2. Claudia Hürtgen was entered for round 2 but was replaced after shakedown by Jutta Kleinschmidt for medical reasons.
3. Semi-Final 2 was known as the "Crazy Race" at the season-opening Desert X-Prix.
4. The Crazy Race was known as the "Shootout" at the first two rounds of the season.
5. Commercially known as the "Continental Traction Challenge" at rounds 4 and 5.
6. Only for the teams' championship.
7. Chip Ganassi Racing and Kyle LeDuc received a 1 championship point penalty for causing a collision in the shoot-out race of the Desert X-Prix.^[45]