Rosberg X Racing leads Friday Extreme E practice

Rosberg X Racing was the pacesetter as practice for the second Island X Prix of the Extreme E season got underway in Sardinia.

The pairing of Mikaela Ahlin-Kottulinsky and Johan Kristoffersson topped both practice sessions at Capo Teulada, with a cumulative four-lap time of 9m26.271 giving them a narrow 1.115s advantage over Acciona Sainz’s Laia Sanz and Mattias Ekstrom in the afternoon session.

Veloce Racing’s Molly Taylor and Kevin Hasen were third quickest, ahead of X44 Vida Carbon Racing’s Cristina Gutierrez and Fraser McConnell, with Abt Cupra’s Klara Andersson and Sebastien Loeb completing the top five.

Andretti Altawkilat (Catie Munnings and Timmy Hansen) ended the day sixth overall, ahead of Carl Cox Motorsport (Lia Block and Timo Scheider). GMC Hummer EV Chip Ganassi Racing’s Amanda Sorensen and RJ Anderson wound up eighth quickest in the afternoon after their morning running was cut short due to right-rear suspension damage which led to a puncture after Sorensen drove over a large rock during her second lap of the day.

JBXE’s Hedda Hosas and Andreas Bakkerud were ninth, ahead of NEOM McLaren which endured an extremely difficult day.

Towards the end of Emma Gilmour’s second lap in first practice, she was pitched into a violent roll which destroyed the team’s Odyssey 21, necessitating a switch to the championship’s spare car for the remainder of the event.

“Emma has been transported to Cagliari hospital for precautionary checks and is receiving medical attention,” read a statement provided by McLaren after the crash, which was subsequently followed up with: “Due to Emma still being under medical examination, Extreme E’s Championship Driver, Tamara Molinaro, will compete alongside Tanner (Foust) for the team in place of Emma for this session as per championship protocol.”

Molinaro took part in the second practice session for McLaren alongside Foust, subsequently becoming the second female driver to take part in an official session for the brand in its 60-year history. The team finished bottom of the standings as it cautiously got to grips with its new car and ran through procedures, before bringing an end to its FP2 running after only three laps.

Island X Prix II Free Practice 2

1. Rosberg X Racing 9:26.271

2. Acciona Sainz +1.115

3. Veloce Racing +5.897

4. X44 Vida Carbon Racing +7.221

5. Abt Cupra +8.258

6. Andretti Altawkilat +8.556

7. Carl Cox Motorsport +17.701

8. GMC Hummer EV Chip Ganassi Racing +2.7963

9. JBXE +30.219

10. NEOM McLaren NC

Story originally appeared on Racer