Rosberg X Racing takes first Island X Prix win after Ganassi team penalty

Rosberg X Racing claimed its first win of the 2023 Extreme E season, drivers Johan Kristoffersson and Mikaela Ahlin-Kottulinsky winning the first part of the Island X Prix in Sardinia after a penalty for on-the-road winners GMC Hummer EV Chip Ganassi Racing.

The Ganassi duo of RJ Anderson and Amanda Sorensen dominated the final, but a 15.7s penalty — 15 seconds, plus the time gained — for leaving the driver switch zone early took away that team’s first win since the first Sardinia race of last year.

The start of the finale was a tense affair, with the Andretti Altawkilat, Ganassi, and RXR cars all coming together off the start. The melee sent the RXR way off-line to the right, while the Ganassi machine muscled through to lead into the first corner. From there, Anderson never looked back, building a lead of 1.297s by the end of the first lap.

Andretti’s Timmy Hansen gained a tenth of a second over the second lap before the teams all switched drivers at the midway point, but the biggest charge came from RXR, with Kristoffersson going from being all but out of the running after the start skirmish, to being within 2.477s of the lead at the end of lap two.

The other two entrants in the final — Abt Cupra and Acciona Sainz — were somewhat adrift of the podium places, with Abt Cupra’s Sebastien Loeb being hampered by a puncture, which helped Mattias Ekstrom easily get by for Acciona Sainz.

The second half of the race featured just the female drivers, and with Sorensen holding a clear but ultimately meaningless lead, attention turned to the battle for second with Andretti’s Catie Munnings trying to hold off Ahlin-Kottulinsky who was continuing the fightback ignited by Kristoffersson a lap earlier. However, the battle was short-lived after contact between the pair resulted in a slow roll for Munnings, eliminating the Andretti car from the race.

Promotion to second ended up being first as a result of Ganassi’s penalty, creating a reverse of the scenario a year ago where Ganassi benefited from a penalty for RXR to claim its first win in the category in the first race of a Sardinia double-header.

Island X Prix I Final

1. Rosberg X Racing 9m14.533s

2. Acciona Sainz +1.610s

3. GMC Hummer EV Chip Ganassi Racing +14.723s

4. Abt Cupra +2m 34.490s

5. Andretti Altawkilat DNF

RXR and Andretti’s battle for supremacy began long before the final, though, with both winning their opening qualifying heats. They finished second in their Q2 races, with Acciona Sainz and Ganassi prevailing. Surprisingly, Veloce Racing — the championship leaders coming into the weekend — struggled. The pairing of Kevin Hansen and Molly Taylor sustained a puncture in Q1, and couldn’t regain any more lost ground in Q2.

The team did get redemption in the aptly titled redemption race though, to lead from lights to flag ahead of NEOM McLaren’s Tanner Foust and Emma Gilmour, and Carl Cox Racing’s Timo Scheider and Lia Block. X44 Vida Carbon Racing’s Fraser McConnell and Cristina Gutierrez took fourth, while JBXE’s Andreas Bakkerud and Hedda Hosas failed to finish after a spin off the start as a result of contact with the McLaren.

Island X Prix I Redemption Race

1. Veloce Racing 8m 52.483s

2. NEOM McLaren +1.350s

3. Carl Cox Racing +1.893s

4. X44 Vida Carbon Racing +9.874s

5. JBXE DNF

Saturday marked the midpoint of the Extreme E season — a stage where in previous seasons would be the end of the campaign, the series now running a doubleheader format at each of its five events this year.

Acciona Sainz leads the championship with 90 points, with Veloce just two back in second, having lost the points lead for the first time this season after missing today’s final. RXR is a further 10 back from Veloce on 78, with Ganassi and X44 fourth and fifth on 66 and 55 points respectively.

Extreme E standings after five rounds out of 10

1. Acciona Sainz 90 points

2. Veloce Racing 88 points

3. Rosberg X Racing 78 points

4. GMC Hummer EV Chip Ganassi Racing 66 points

5. X44 Vida Carbon Racing 55 points

6. NEOM McLaren 42 points

7. Andretti Altawkilat 40 points

8. Abt Cupra 32 points

9. Carl Cox Motorsport 25 points

10. JBXE 16 points

Story originally appeared on Racer