Rosberg X Racing Team Wins Extreme E’s Desert X Prix

The long-awaited racing series is off to a good start

Extreme E
Molly Taylor (AUS)/Johan Kristoffersson (SWE), Rosberg X Racing, Laia Sanz/Carlos Sainz (ESP), Acciona | Sainz XE Team, and Cristina Gutierrez (ESP)/Sebastien Loeb (FRA), X44
Zak Mauger

Do you enjoy auto racing? Are you intrigued by electric cars? Then you’ve probably been keeping an eye on Extreme E, a racing series centered around electric off-road SUVs. The series was announced in late 2019, with its first race slated to take place in early 2021. Those initial estimates placed the series debut in January; admittedly, there have been a few global events since then that have thrown a spanner into the very nature of scheduling events, and Extreme E’s debut was no exception.

That said, the first Extreme E race is now in the books, with thrills aplenty. The Desert X Prix took place in AlUla, Saudi Arabia over the weekend. In the end, it was Rosberg X Racing team Johan Kristofferson and Molly Taylor who emerged victorious after a chaotic race ended.

“It was definitely extreme. It was the first time we had experienced terrain like that, and on every lap, the course was changing – there were so many different variables to deal with,” Taylor said. “We just wanted to make the most of the little time we had in the car — every single kilometer.”

Engadget’s report on the race notes that Rosberg X Racing competed in the final against two teams with impressive racing backgrounds: Andretti United and X44, the latter of which was founded by Lewis Hamilton. It’s an impressive start for the series; next up is the Ocean X Prix, set to take place in Lac Rose, Senegal on May 29 and 30.

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Tobias Carroll

Tobias Carroll

Tobias Carroll lives and writes in New York City, and has been covering a wide variety of subjects — including (but not limited to) books, soccer and drinks — for many years. His writing has been published by the likes of the Los Angeles Times, Pitchfork, Literary Hub, Vulture, Punch, the New York Times and Men’s Journal. At InsideHook, he has…
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