The postponed Island X Prix event got underway in Sardinia, Italy with a double header. Originally set for May, the initial site the series planned to use forced them to move due to the Ukrainian conflict.
Island X Prix 1 started out just as dramatic as it finished. The ABT CUPRA XE team took off with the lead first off the line with Nasser Al-Attiyah behind the wheel. Team Ganassi’s Sara Price followed closely in the Hummer. Behind Price, Emma Gilmour’s day ended in a crash in her NEOM McLaren Extreme E car. The team would not be able to recover. Upfront, Al-Attiyah was extending his lead. Lance Woolridge managed to claim the second spot after Price spun out. Then in another turn of events, Woolridge went the wrong way on the course. Al-Attiyah kept the chaos behind him, entering the switch zone 20 seconds ahead of the pack. As drivers switched for their second lap, Kyle Leduc made up time for Ganassi, coming in 10 seconds behind Al-Attiyah’s teammate Jutta Kleinschmidt. In another turn of events, at the finish line, ABT CUPRA was penalized for switching to drive mode before the minimum driver switch time and been reached. This moved Ganassi into first place for their first ever Extreme E win.
In the second Island X Prix, Rosberg X Racing was back on top for their second win of the season. The key to their victory was a late overtake of the X44 team on the track. ABT CUPRA suffered another setback as they were disqualified for a safety infringement. The RXR team also scored maximum points for having the quickest combined time in the Continental Traction Challenge. RXR still stands high above the championship points with a total of 80. Gannassi’s Sara Price and Kyle Leduc have 43 total points and a lot of work to do during the rest of the season.
