Acciona Sainz beats KMS to top spot in Qualifying for Desert X Prix Race 1

ACCIONA | SAINZ XE TEAM's Fraser McConnell and Laia Sanz topped qualifying for the Race 1 of the 2025 Desert X Prix in Qiddiya City, edging Kristofferson Motorsport's Johan Kristoffersson and Mikaela Ahlin-Kottulinsky on a tie-breaker.

Both teams took a heat win and a second place on Saturday morning, but it was Acciona Sainz's better Super Sector time that gave them the top spot for Qualifying. Team Hansen's Andreas Bakkerud and Catie Munnings ended up third, with Team EVEN's Ole Christian Veiby and Hedda Hosås being the final team to advance to the Final.

Q1 Race 1 started with Jameel Motorsport's Kevin Hansen making a good start from the far left grid position to lead KMS’ Kristoffersson out of the first turn.

Hansen held a sizeable gap for most of the lap, but Kristoffersson closed massively at Gates 15 and 16 and made contact with the Saudi Arabian team's car. He could not find a way past though, and the top two remained the same.

Lap 2 was a similar story, but again Hansen remained resolute out in front. Behind the lead pair, JBX Powered by Team Monaco's Tommi Hallman and EVEN's Veiby held third and fourth respectively.

Following the mid-race driver change, Molly Taylor continued to lead for Jameel, but Ahlin-Kottulinsky, who'd taken over the KMS entry from Johan Kristoffersson, had closed in quickly.

At Gate 3, Ahlin-Kottulinsky went up the inside to take the lead. Three gates later, at the second jump of the course, the rear of Taylor's Odyssey bounced upon landing and was pitched into a roll, coming to a rest on its roof.

Taylor was able to climb from the car unaided, but was taken to the on-site medical centre for review, and upon assessment was transferred to a local hospital but returned to the paddock soon after.

Reserve Driver Claire Schönborn will step in for Molly Taylor for the rest of the day, with the team focused on getting the championship car ready for the Redemption Race. Taylor is hopeful of returning to the cockpit tomorrow.

The crash led to a red flag, with the race not resuming afterwards. KMS’ Kristoffersson and Ahlin-Kottulinsky were declared the winners ahead of JBX’s Hallman and Christine GZ, with EVEN third with Veiby and Hedda Hosås.

In the second Q1 qualifying race, Team Hansen's Bakkerud and Munnings won after what turned out to be an attritional contest.

The Swedish team took its chance early on when contact between Carl Cox Motorsport's Timo Scheider and Acciona Sainz's Sanz opened the door for Bakkerud to sneak past.

Bakkerud and Scheider had banged doors off the start line, which allowed Sanz to take an early lead, but Scheider soon caught up, only for him to make contact with the early race leader.

While Team Hansen continued out in front unchallenged, the three other entrants all failed to finish. Scheider's car suffered front left suspension damage and retired after a spin near Gate 8, while Sanz initially continued, albeit with right rear damage, only to eventually retire on the second lap.

The contact between the Carl Cox and Acciona Sainz cars caused visibility issues for STARD's Patrick O'Donovan who had to take avoiding action and ended up off track as well. O’Donovan initially attempted to continue, but was eventually forced to retire the car. However, as he had passed the stricken Carl Cox machine, he and team-mate Amanda Sorensen were classified third.

In the first race of Q2, Acciona Sainz and KMS dueled from the start, with McConnell eventually prevailing over Ahlin-Kottulinsky for the Spanish team.

By the time of the mid-race driver switch, Acciona Sainz had a lead of over seven seconds, but with Kirstoffersson now at the wheel of the KMS machine, he began to reel in Sanz who'd taken over the lead car.

At the end of the third lap, the gap had been halved, but Sanz responded on the final tour to add another half second to her team's advantage. She eventually crossed the line 4.095s ahead of Kristoffersson.

JBX's Christine GZ and Hallman finished a distant third after an uneventful race, while Carl Cox again failed to finish with Klara Anderson stopping just before Gate 6 after a wiper failure hampered her visibility. After a brief revival, she stopped again at Gate 8 and didn’t continue.

The second race of Q2 started with Team EVEN's Hosås activating her Hyperdrive when the lights went out, which allowed her to power round the outside of the first corner and take an early lead.

Sorensen quickly moved into second, ahead of Munnings of Team Hansen who, having already qualified for the Final, opted to stay out of trouble.

Hosås, unchallenged at the front, held a 13.373s lead at the Switch, but an issue with the passenger door once Veiby took over caused the team to lose 8.710s seconds during the stop.

That could have been beneficial for the second-placed STARD car, now being driven by O'Donovan, but a moment at Gate 10 when he pitched onto two wheels and hit a trackside bank cost him early.

That, and Veiby's impressive pace in what what was only his second-ever Extreme E qualifying heat, allowed Even to take the victory by 11.024s, ahead of STARD, with Bakkerud bringing the Hansen car home third following that team's conservative run.

Jameel was set to race in Q2 Race 2, but after Taylor's crash in Q1, the team was forced to sit out while they prepare a spare car for the rest of the weekend.

The action continues later today with the Redemption Race – featuring STARD, JBX, Jameel, and Carl Cox – at 15:15 local time, followed by the Final at 16:26 local time, which will include Acciona Sainz, KMS, Team Hansen, and EVEN.

For more information on timings and broadcasters in your local territory, click here.