Our title contenders: Chip Ganassi Racing
The team entered Extreme E Season 3 with a fresh driving pairing, as Amanda Sorensen made her championship debut at the Desert X Prix in March alongside RJ Anderson. The American brought with her heaps of experience having competed in the Formula DRIFT series and seized the Lucas Oil UTV Championship that same year as the youngest competitor across the board.
Competing as Sorensen’s team-mate for the 2023 campaign, Anderson returned to Chip Ganassi Racing having stepped in for the final race of Season 2 at the Energy X Prix in Punta del Este, Uruguay. A confident performance on debut helped the team remain in contention all the way up to the final day of competition.
No. 99 GMC HUMMER EV Chip Ganassi Racing’s consistency has put them in the title fight once again this year. Despite being the only team out of the five title contenders not to have taken a victory in 2023, the American outfit has finished in the top-five positions in all but one of the rounds of the 2023 season.
Anderson and Sorensen started Season 3 on a high, heading through to the Grand Final in comfortable fashion having won Qualifying 1 Heat 1 and taking third in Qualifying 2 Heat 1. Unfortunately, a strong start for RJ Anderson was quickly stalled, after technical issues forced Anderson to come to a stop out on course.
The team also hit the ground running in Round 2, claiming two second-place finishes across both Qualifying heats. Anderson and Sorensen could only manage another fifth place, but this marked two Grand Finals out of two for the American outfit.
A third place in Round 4 at Hydro X Prix in Scotland was the first podium of the year for No. 99 GMC HUMMER EV Chip Ganassi Racing and a maiden podium for Anderson and Sorensen. A strong fourth place in Round 3 meant the team left Scotland with their Grand Final streak intact.
No. 99 GMC Hummer EV Chip Ganassi Racing maintained their strong form with another podium and another fourth place at the next double-header in Sardinia, Italy.
However, the Island X Prix also represented a missed opportunity for Anderson and Sorensen, as a penalty denied them a first win of the campaign in Round 5, putting them down to third place.
The pair also lost out on back-to-back podiums, having run in third until the very last corner of Round 6 before Sorensen was passed right at the last by Andretti Altawkilat Extreme E’s Catie Munnings.
As the championship returned to Sardinia in September for Rounds 7 and 8, the opening day’s racing saw the team miss out on its first Grand Final of the season, crossing the line third in the Redemption Race to finish eighth overall.
In a bid to turn their Island X Prix fortunes around, Anderson and Sorensen quickly put Round 7 behind them and were flying in Qualifying for Round 8. In Qualifying 2 Heat 2, Sorenson pulled off a risky move on JBXE’s Hedda Hosås to take a dramatic victory in the closing stages.
These heroics secured joint second place in the Qualifying standings, ahead by virtue of their speed through the Continental Traction Challenge, and a place in the Grand Final.
After a hard-fought battle with Rosberg X Racing’s Johan Kristoffersson in the Grand Final, the team just missed out on a spot on the podium, finishing in fourth. The 19 points earned across the weekend ensures No. 99 GMC HUMMER EV Chip Ganassi Racing remain an outside bet for the 2023 championship.
No. 99 GMC HUMMER EV Chip Ganassi Racing sits 40 points off championship leaders ACCIONA | SAINZ XE Team and just 19 points outside of the top three contenders. With plenty of points up for grabs at the season finale in Chile, the Antofagasta Minerals Copper X Prix promises to be an exciting showdown.
The crowning of the 2023 champions will be live across ITV and STV in the UK, while outside of the UK please visit here for broadcaster details.
