Team Hansen Truimphs in Extreme E Final Lap Send-Off in Qiddiya City

Extreme E concluded five years of racing with another thriller in Qiddiya City at the Desert X Prix Race 2, the official Final Lap.

Team Hansen’s Andreas Bakkerud and Catie Munnings prevailed in an intriguing Final, defeating Saudi team Jameel Motorsport, represented by Kevin Hansen and Molly Taylor.

Team Hansen’s win made it two new winning teams in as many days at the Desert X Prix, while for Munnings it was her first victory since the Arctic X Prix in Season 1. One day after his maiden Extreme E podium, Bakkerud became the final first-time winner in Extreme E, and the first Norwegian driver to triumph in the series.

In the Redemption Race, JBX Powered by Team Monaco's Tommi Hallman and Christine GZ won after a closely-fought early battle with STARD's Patrick O'Donovan and Amanda Sorensen. JBX consolidated its lead before the end of the first lap, and remained unchallenged by the end of the race.

While STARD was in the victory picture early on, it soon fell back, and when Sorensen ran deep going through Gate 14, Klara Andersson pounced for Carl Cox Motorsport.

JBX eventually won by 8.730s, but the gap grew to 23.730s following a post-race penalty for Carl Cox after a Switch Zone infringement. STARD rounded out the finishers, with ACCIONA | SAINZ XE TEAM’s Fraser McConnell and Laia Sanz failing to make the race after the team’s crash in qualifying.

Like the Redemption Race, the starting lineup for the Final was all-female.

Taylor made an excellent start for Jameel Motorsport from the outside position to take an early lead, while Team KMS's Mikaela Ahlin Kottulinsky and Team EVEN's Hedda Hosås squeezed out Munnings in the Hansen entry right from the off.

The two Swedish teams continued their door-to-door duel into the first corner but made contact which took both out of the race instantly. Ahlin-Kottulinsky rolled in the incident, but was uninjured.

Up front, Munnings took time out of Taylor's lead, with the gap down to 1.060s at the Switch. With Kevin Hansen and Bakkerud taking over the Jameel and Team Hansen entries respectively for the second half of the race, the battle continued.

A slow zone in the first part of the lap – as a result of the first lap collision – caught out Bakkerud on lap 3, and Kevin Hansen on the final lap. Nevertheless, Kevin Hansen responded, eking out a 7.291s lead over the remainder of the race.

Both teams were penalised post-race for their Slow Zone infringements, but with Jameel's penalty being greater as a result of it gaining more time by overspeeding, it was dropped to second behind Team Hansen.

KMS was classified third despite not making it past the first turn. Not only had it made a few metres more progress on track than EVEN, but EVEN was also hit with a penalty for causing their collision in the first place.

Munnings, Taylor, and Kristoffersson hold the unique distinction of being on the podium in the first and last Extreme E races, with Munnings and Taylor’s positions reversed after the Australian won the series debut in Al-'Ula in 2021 ahead of Munnings.

Despite not making it far into the race, Ahlin-Kottulinsky extended her record as the driver with the most podiums in Extreme E history.

Extreme E now transitions to the FIA Extreme H World Cup, which will kick off on Thursday, 9 October.