Less than a week to go until Extreme E returns for Sardinia spectacular

The Island X Prix (8-9 July), co-organised and coordinated by the Automobile Club d'Italia and Regione Sardegna, will mark the championship’s return to the Italian island for a third successive year – with the event shaping up to be the most thrilling yet.

The electric off-road racing series will be returning to the familiar setting of the Italian Army Training area at Capo Teulada in Sulcis-Iglesiente. The Teulada route provides a challenging backdrop for the course, with some changes to this year’s configuration netting out at a track distance of around three kilometres.

Extreme E has been working closely with Automobile Club d’Italia – the national sports federation co-organising and coordinating the event - the Region of Sardinia, and its Tourism Department plus the Ministry of Defense and the Italian Army, to deliver what promises to be a thrilling weekend of racing action.

Alejandro Agag, Founder and CEO at Extreme E, said: “We are really looking forward to the upcoming Island X Prix.

“It has been so tough to call out on track so far this season and so the racing in Sardinia could be the closest fought yet.

“We are also extremely proud to launch our latest legacy initiative in the region, which is the first of its kind in Sardinia, which only reinforces our commitment to sustainable solutions in the areas in which we race."

On track

Veloce Racing currently leads the Extreme E Season 3 standings after two victories in 2023., ACCIONA | SAINZ XE Team are a close second with 69 points – 11 off the lead – while Season 1 Champions Rosberg X Racing (RXR) sit third. Last year’s winners, Lewis Hamilton’s X44 Vida Carbon Racing, are fourth in the standings.

With three different teams winning a race this term from four rounds, Season 3 has proved to be the most wide open campaign yet. What’s more, there will be some new and familiar faces on the grid for the Island X Prix – which makes the fight for victory in Sardinia even more unpredictable.

Nine-time World Rally Champion, and Extreme E Season 2 winner, Sébastien Loeb will compete in the Island X Prix for ABT CUPRA XE, deputising for Nasser Al Attiyah. No stranger to success, Loeb will be looking to build on his two X Prix wins and six podiums in the series to date alongside Klara Andersson.

There is also a driver change at Carl Cox Motorsport. Lia Block will make her Extreme E debut at Carl Cox Motorsport replacing Christine GZ for the rest of the season. The teenage sensation has shown plenty of potential in her off-road racing career to date and will get behind the wheel of the ODYSSEY 21 for the first time alongside Carl Cox Motorsport team-mate Timo Scheider.

Block’s debut race is undoubtedly a full circle moment for her family and the series as her father, the legendary Ken Block, who sadly passed away earlier this year, was involved in the early developments of Extreme E and was the first driver to race the ODYSSEY 21 in competitive motorsports at the Dakar Rally in January 2020.

How Loeb and Block fare will be exciting to watch out on course in Sardinia, an event which has proven to be more successful for one team above any other – RXR. Nico Rosberg’s outfit have won two of the previous three races held on the Italian island and will be going all out to take their first win of 2023.

Enno Straten, Head of Strategy & Marketing, Continental Tyres EMEA, said: “We are really excited for the upcoming Island X Prix double-header and are looking forward to once again proving the outstanding performance of our tyres under the toughest and most challenging conditions.”

Legacy

Continuing to work alongside the MEDSEA (Mediterranean Sea and Coast) Foundation, the series will build upon its existing legacy projects in the region.

The series will be replanting a half-hectare area with nectar-rich plants, shrubs and trees to create a forest to support bees – the first of its kind in Sardinia – ahead of the upcoming Island X Prix, co-organised and coordinated by the Automobile Club d'Italia and Regione Sardegna.

The pioneering championship will collaborate once more with the MEDSEA Foundation, whose research aims to protect and provide sustainable management of the marine and coastal resources of Sardinia and the Mediterranean Sea, to deliver this latest joint initiative in the region.

The creation of a dedicated forest for this under-threat species will help to rejuvenate the role of pollinators in the area and combat the devastating effects of climate change in the region.

As well as the launch of the forest for bees, Extreme E will be revisiting its already established initiatives in Sardinia.

The series will return to the wildfire sites to learn about the success of the early warning sensors it introduced in the region alongside Vodafone Business last year. 

The championship will also review its legacy programmes in the region which focused on blue and green carbon stores, such as the restoration of areas hit by wildfires and replenishing seagrass beds of Posidonia oceanica in the waters of the Marine Protected Areas around Sardinia.

Alessio Satta, Founder and President of MEDSEA, said: “Among all pollinators, bees play a key role in maintaining the natural balance and ensuring food security. Bees pollinate one-third of global crops and are responsible for approximately 75% of the pollination of all plant species on the planet. 

“Without them, one-third of the food we normally find in the market would no longer be available.”

With just under a week to go until back-to-back rounds in Sardinia on Saturday 8 and Sunday 9 July, the stage is set for more gripping racing in Extreme E Season 3 as the championship heads to the Italian island. Find out where you can watch the action here.

Extreme E:

Simra Gulzar, Communications Supervisor
E: media@extreme-e.com / T:+44 7552 858229

Josh Bell, MPA Creative:     
E: jb@mpacreative.com  / T: +44 7557 102540

Diego Bustos, BE Mass Media (Latin America -including Brazil-, US Hispanics, Spain, Portugal)
E: diego.bustos@bemassmedia.com / +569-8829-9138 or +1-660-847-4645

NOTES TO EDITORS

About Extreme E:

Now in its third season, Extreme E is a radical off-road racing series, founded by the same team behind Formula E, which showcases electric SUVs and futuristic technologies in some of the world’s most remote and challenging environments.

This five-event global voyage utilises its sporting platform for the purpose of promoting electrification, environment and equality. The series’ goal is to highlight the impact of climate change in some of the world’s most endangered environments, promote the adoption of electric vehicles to pave the way for a lower carbon future, and provide a world-first gender-equal motorsport platform.

The first sport to ever be built out of a social purpose, Extreme E aims to minimise environmental impact while maximising awareness, racing in places that have already been damaged or affected by climate change or human interference and taking fans deep into the heart of the most pressing issues facing our planet’s future.

Not only that, but Extreme E is also helping the car industry to develop future-facing technology using racing as a platform for road innovation, which accelerates change ten-fold.

Season 3 Calendar: 

Saudi Arabia
11-12 March 2023
Scotland
13-14 May 2023
Sardinia, Italy
08-09 July 2023
Amazon/USA
16-17 September 2023
Chile
02-03 December 2023

About Continental Tires: Founding Partner and Official Tire Partner 
Continental develops pioneering technologies and services for sustainable and connected mobility of people and their goods. Founded in 1871, the technology company offers safe, efficient, intelligent, and affordable solutions for vehicles, machines, traffic and transportation. 
 
The tyres business area has 24 production and development locations worldwide. Continental is one of the leading tyre manufacturers with more than 56,000 employees and offers a broad product range for passenger cars, commercial and special-purpose vehicles as well as two-wheelers. Through continuous investment in research and development, Continental makes a major contribution to safe, cost effective and ecologically efficient mobility. The portfolio of the tyres business area includes services for the tyre trade and fleet applications, as well as digital management systems for tyres. 
 
Continental developed a new high-performance tyre for Extreme E Season 2, redesigned to include the use of more sustainable materials. Each of the 30 tyres that Continental has supplied to all ten Extreme E teams now contains recycled polyester made from approximately 60 PET bottles.  In total, around a third of each second-generation CrossContact Extreme E tyre consists of recycled and renewable raw materials. 
 
About LuisaViaRoma: Official Fashion Partner 
Defined by the Financial Times as “a haven for directional fashion,” LUISAVIAROMA.COM is the top online luxury fashion destination with 5,000,000 visitors per month and worldwide shipping. With each new season, the website presents the collections of more than 600 established designers and young emerging talents. 
 
About Enel X Way: Official Smart Charging Partner 
Enel X Way is the Enel Group's new global business line entirely dedicated to electric mobility. Currently, Enel X Way manages approximately 320,000 charging points, both directly and through interoperability agreements in place worldwide. As a global platform for e-mobility, the company is focused on developing flexible charging technologies and solutions to improve the customer experience by supporting the electrification of transport for consumers, businesses, cities and public administrations. 
 
Find out more on https://enelxway.it/en/home  and follow Enel X Way on its social media channels: 
 
LinkedIn: Enel X Way  
Twitter: @enelxway 
Instagram: @enelxway   
Facebook: @enelxway 
 
About Zenith: Official Timekeeper and Founding Partner 
Zenith exists to inspire individuals to pursue their dreams and make them come true – against all odds. Since its establishment in 1865, Zenith became the first watch manufacture in the modern sense of the term, and its watches have accompanied extraordinary figures that dreamt big and strived to achieve the impossible – from Louis Blériot’s history-making flight across the English Channel to Felix Baumgartner’s record-setting stratospheric free-fall jump. Zenith is also highlighting visionary and trailblazing women – past and present – by celebrating their accomplishments and creating in 2020 its first-ever collection dedicated entirely to them, Defy Midnight. 
 
With innovation as its guiding star, Zenith features exceptional in-house developed and manufactured movements in all its watches. Since the creation of the El Primero in 1969, the world’s first automatic chronograph calibre, Zenith has gone on to master fractions of the second with the Chronomaster Sport and its 1/10th of a second precision and the DEFY 21 with a precision of 1/100th of a second. 
 
About ENOWA: Official Green Hydrogen Partner 
ENOWA is a world-class energy, water and hydrogen company founded in NEOM, Saudi Arabia. ENOWA produces and delivers clean and sustainable resources for industrial and commercial applications using a customer-centric smart and connected system, designed to be circular and takes advantage of NEOM's optimal solar and wind energy profile. ENOWA benefits from NEOM's greenfield site, which has no legacy infrastructure, to advance Energy, Water, and Hydrogen innovation. 
 
ENOWA will act as a catalyst and incubator for developing new, sustainable energy and water businesses while creating a robust economic sector regionally. Through its commitment to renewable energy and efficient water management, ENOWA seeks to become a global reference for industry leaders and setting a benchmark for sustainable economic circular systems around the world. 
 
For more information, please visit: enowa.neom.com 
 
About Vodafone Business: Official Technology and Communication Partner 
With expertise in connectivity, global scale and the leading IoT platform, Vodafone Business is a leading technology communications company helping organisations succeed in a digital world and keeping society connected. Vodafone’s purpose is to connect for a better future, enabling an inclusive and sustainable digital society, and many of its solutions have sustainability and inclusivity embedded. 
 
Unique in its scale as the largest pan-European and African technology communications company, Vodafone transforms the way we live and work through its innovation, technology, connectivity, platforms, products and services. Vodafone operates mobile and fixed networks in 21 countries, and partners with mobile networks in 52 more.  As of 31 December 2021, they had over 300m mobile customers, more than 28m fixed broadband customers and over 22m TV customers. 
 
This collaboration will see Vodafone Business leading innovations and capabilities such as 5G, MPN, IOT and MEC, integrated into Extreme E’s global operations and will include full involvement in the purpose- driven elements of the series, with special prominence on Extreme E’s Legacy Programmes and the Science Laboratory on board the St Helena. Through its IOT solutions, Vodafone Business is helping sustainability efforts, including agriculture, forestation and decarbonisation of energy grids. 
 
Find out more on http://www.Vodafone.com/business  and follow Vodafone on its social media channels: 
 
Twitter: @VodafoneGroup  
LinkedIn:  www.linkedin.com/company/vodafone 
 
About EY: Official Sustainability Partner 
EY is a global leader in assurance, consulting, strategy, transactions and tax services, and already plays a significant role in working with Extreme E. Originally announcing its collaboration with the championship back in 2020, EY came on board to help Extreme E achieve its commitment to minimising its overall footprint whilst creating a positive legacy. 
 
Whilst Extreme E strives ‘to race without a trace’, the framework provided by EY has helped the series to minimize its environmental impact across each of its remote race locations. Both prior and post-racing impact assessments have supported Extreme E to strategically plan their actions within these areas. 
 
EY and Extreme E will work closely together to promote the five pillars of Extreme E (or “Five Es”) through the adoption of ‘XE Talks’. These informative presentations, facilitated by Extreme E’s Scientific Committee, will shed light on the Five Es, showcasing the joint commitment of EY and Extreme E. 
 
About CBMM: Founding Supplier  
CBMM | Niobium is a founding supplier of Extreme E and the Championship’s official Niobium Technology Supplier and Chassis Technology Supplier. 
 
Critical to the automotive sector, niobium produces stronger, lighter and more sustainable cars with better energy efficiency. Its technologies are already widely applied in different areas, including light-weighting, safety, emissions reduction and electronics that will help lead to a sustainable sector transformation. Key applications of niobium in the Mobility sector include chassis, brakes and exhaust systems, drivetrains, batteries and EV charging stations and any number of ancillary components. Its qualities mean materials can be made lighter, stronger, more robust and more reliable – all while being more sustainable than other materials.  
 
CBMM offers technical innovation to customers around the globe through a team of over 2,000 highly trained, dedicated professionals providing cutting-edge niobium products and technology to over 400 clients in around 40 countries. 
 
About Kaizen Clean Energy: Official Clean Energy Technology Provider 
Kaizen Clean Energy (KCE), a manufacturer of hydrogen generators, is developing integrated solutions for electric vehicle (EV) charging, hydrogen fuelling, and distributed power for the grid and critical assets. 
 
KCE offers its mobile microgrid to customers through an Energy as a Service contract, which eliminates large capital expenses and provides customers with the flexibility to scale with energy needs over time.  
 
Kaizen Clean Energy will support ENOWA - NEOM’s energy, water, and hydrogen subsidiary and Green Hydrogen Power Partner to Extreme E - in delivering a pioneering hydrogen microgrid solution to the championship. 
 
Find out more on: www.kaizencleanenergy.com.