Yahoo Autos Hansen/Taylor secure Hydro X Prix sweep for Veloce team
E.ON NEXT Veloce Racing completed a sweep of the Hydro X Prix weekend in Scotland, winning Sunday’s final.
The result was a repeat of Saturday’s, with Acciona Sainz finishing second and Andretti Altawkilat third.
Starting the four-lap final for Veloce, Kevin Hansen opted for the unfavored left side of the grid, but made it work to his advantage to sweep round the outside and lead out of the first corner. Acciona Sainz’s Laia Sanz mounted an early challenge, but a sideways moment through Waypoint 23 at the end of the first lap stunted her charge, and Veloce subsequently entered the mid-race driver change with an 8.680s lead.
That meant Molly Taylor only had to bring the car home, but Fraser McConnell, who took over from Sanz, had other ideas. He took three seconds out of the lead in the final three sectors of the first lap, with a session best time in the final sector. Three quarters of the way through the final lap, the gap was reduced to less than a second, with McConnell right on Taylor’s bumper for the final part of the lap.
Taylor was able to hold on though, crossing the line 0.653s ahead of McConnell to make Veloce the first repeat winners of the 2024 season. The back-to-back wins also ensured that Veloce became the first to sweep Finals in a weekend since Rosberg X Racing did it in the first Island X Prix last July.
Andretti’s third place came despite a pair of penalties for knocking over Waypoint flags. Catie Munnings and Timmy Hansen’s spots on the podium was all-but-confirmed after RXR’s Mikaela Ahlin-Kottulinsky sustained a tire debead at the start of the first lap.
A poor getaway from the start line was followed by contact with Acciona Sainz and then Andretti, the second of which caused the tire issue.
Redemption Race was an appropriate name for the consolation contest won by NEOM McLaren.
The team had endured a torrid time on home soil this weekend, but Cristina Gutierrez and Mattias Ekstrom were able to take victory after a close fight with Legacy Motor Club’s Patrick O’Donovan and Gray Leadbetter.
The American team led at the mid-race driver change, but a perfectly-timed use of the four-second Hyperdrive boost by Ekstrom in the second half of the race allowed him to get by Leadbetter.
Leadbetter initially stuck with the two-time DTM and 2016 World Rallycross champion, but eventually finished 8.782s back. SUN Minimeal’s Timo Scheider and Klara Andersson finished third, after suffering wheelspin at the start, then collecting a 10-second penalty for downing a Waypoint flag. JBXE’s Andreas Bakkerud and Amanda Sorensen ended the day bottom of the pile. The team competed in the Redemption Race with the sereis’ spare car after a roll for Sorensen in Q2.
HYDRO X PRIX II REDEMPTION RACE RESULTS
RXR’s disappointing Final showing was compensated with a win in its first qualifying heat at the start of the day. JBXE won the other Q1 heat, while Acciona Sainz and Legacy Motor Club won the Q2 races, Legacy MC’s win coming after a penalty for RXR after it collided with McLaren in the Switch Zone.
McLaren, who spun out of an early lead in the second Q1 race salvaged two bonus points by setting the day’s fastest combined time between both of its drivers in the Super Sector.
Championship standings:
1. E.ON NEXT Veloce Racing 83 points
2. ACCIONA | SAINZ XE Team 76
3. Rosberg X Racing 67
4. Andretti Altawkilat Extreme E 62
5. NEOM McLaren Extreme E Team 46 points
6. LEGACY MOTOR CLUB 37 points
7. SUN Minimeal Team 24 points
8. JBXE 20 points
