Yahoo Autos Sainz and McConnell riding high after a strong Extreme E start
Acciona Sainz came within a lap of winning the Extreme E championship in 2023, and with that painful heartbreak still fresh in the mind – after all, last season’s finale was only two short months ago – the team was keen to get this year off to a strong start to banish those memories.
Saturday’s Desert X Prix final brought an unlucky slow roll in deep sand and perhaps wasn’t the best start to the team’s latest crusade, but a victory in Sunday’s final more than made up for it.
“I think it was a fantastic way to start the season for the team,” team boss Carlos Sainz Sr. told RACER. “It’s very good for the confidence of the team, also the way we finished last year was very hard and we were a little bit down. Saturday wasn’t easy, but in the end this victory will give the whole team a good boost, the drivers good confidence, and for the morale, it’s really the best way to start.”
The win was Acciona Sainz’s third in Extreme E, and a repeat of last year when it won the second part of the season opener then, too. A key difference this time around, though, was the addition of Fraser McConnell who joined the team in the off season, replacing Mattias Ekstrom, and the former X44 man is already impressing his new boss.
“Yesterday, obviously he was honestly unlucky… He really did a fantastic job the whole weekend, settled really well in the team,” said Sainz. “I was sure he was going to deliver, but now he delivered a very good race, a very good weekend. Now we just need to keep pushing, keep working. This is only the first step.”
Joining such a high caliber team and replacing an equally high caliber driver, McConnell knew he had big shoes to fill, but is relishing the opportunity to work with the Spanish outfit.
“Joining a team with everyone who’s so experienced, so knowledgeable with the car, a really professional group of guys and Laia (Sanz) of course is so fast – Last year she proved herself to be the fastest girl bar none – I knew I was filling quite a big role,” he said. “I really prepared as much as I could and gave the team absolutely everything while I was out on track.
“Yesterday, maybe I tried too much, but if I see tomorrow, I’m going to do it again. It was a great feeling to come back again today and finish the weekend high.
“We know we can do it. We’re not here to participate, we’re here to win. Red Bull coming onboard as well, everyone at QEV, Acciona, Sparco have given me this chance to go out there and show that I can do it so I’m living the dream and I’m going to round three even stronger.”
McConnell these days is firmly established as one of off-road racing’s elite, but at Acciona Sainz he’s surrounded by legendary talent in teammates — the multiple trials champion Sanz, and double World Rally and recently-minted four-time Dakar Rally winner Sainz, both of whom he’s keen to keep impressing.
“There’s still such a far way for me to go,” he insisted. “It’s only my fifth year racing internationally, and Carlos was and still is an inspiration, so when you get to race for one of your childhood heroes you almost have to pinch yourself. I’ve been giving absolutely everything to try and make sure I’m going out there and doing what they signed me up for.”
