Last weekend marked a whole new chapter for McLaren Racing in the Extreme E championship. McLaren is no stranger to venturing into different motorsport categories, famed for its domination of the short-lived Can-Am championship, various entries into the 24 hours of Le Mans and increasing presence in IndyCar. The Zak Brown-led organization is also reportedly looking into taking over the Mercedes EQ Formula E team.Extreme E hit the headlines for all the right reasons prior to its first ever race when F1 champions Lewis Hamilton, Nico Rosberg, and Jenson Button all elected to enter their own X44, Rosberg X Racing, and JBXE teams respectively. The likes of Andretti and Chip Ganassi Racing field their own entries in the pioneering championship.
Saudi Arabia Hosted McLaren's Debut
In similar fashion to last season, Extreme E kicked off in the vast hot deserts of Neom, Saudi Arabia. Open sandy stretches, large camel grass, and rocky outposts are just some elements in this extreme landscape that McLaren would have to tame in the hope of keeping up with the existing teams.
They would enter two new full-time drivers to the series - Rally, Drift, Time Trial, and Ice Racing driver Tanner Foust joining New Zealand Rally championship runner-up Emma Gilmour, who competed in two events for Veloce Racing last year.
Gilmour ventured out first for McLaren in Qualifying 1 on Saturday, switching with Foust to achieve a combined time, which put the team P7 out of ten. Owing to ending the session in the bottom half of the order, Foust started the team's Qualifying 2 heat race with Gilmour taking over for the final lap. Unfortunately, they could only manage P5, 53 seconds off of the lead owing to a technical issue during the driver change.
McLaren, therefore, would not compete in a Semi Final, instead fast-tracked to Sunday's 'Crazy Race' up against JBXE, Veloce Racing, and ABT Cupra.
Gilmour put in a stirling drive just behind JBXE to start the race, laying the foundations for Top Gear USA presenter Foust to pull off an incredible move on the last lap on JBXE's Molly Taylor to clinch the win, and a place in the Final.
However, there would be heartbreak for McLaren XE in the Final only seconds after the flag dropped, and the race got underway. The drying conditions led to an increase in sand kicked up by the cars, which blinded Foust into a fast right-hander. He slammed straight into the back of the Rosberg X Racing car, which would go on to win the race, completely blinded by the dust, and rolled spectacularly on the crest of the dune.
The Race's Aftermath
Post-race, Foust heralded the efforts of the team, and the disappointment of the incident which ended their Final.
"What a weekend of racing! Completely crazy! It was incredible getting through to the final on a wild card especially when we had a technical problem in qualifying on Saturday. However, for the final, the dust was the biggest challenge I was committed through a particularly thick cloud not realizing a car in front had some problems and had slowed down. The impact caused a huge roll and we were out of the race. The effort that this talented team put into its first weekend of battle was epic and I’m bummed it had to end this way but we learned a lot and will be more ready than ever in Sardinia.”
Teammate Gilmour added her thoughts on the team's first foray into electric racing, and off-road racing.
“We knew it was going to be a tough first event especially when we are all still learning but to bring home the bacon for the Crazy Race dispelled the frustrations left from Saturday during qualifying... Tanner has been an awesome support and I couldn’t wish for a better teammate, plus the experience of being in Saudi Arabia and racing in such spectacular terrain has been incredible."
What Is Extreme E?
The all-electric Extreme E series features identically-bodied electric Odyssey 21 SUVs, driven by one male and one female driver, pushing each other to their limits over challenging terrain in locations hit hardest by the impacts of climate change. Alongside the impressive racing spectacle that Extreme E Founder and CEO Alejandro Agag (of the same position at Formula E) hoped to provide with the championship, a crucial aspect was highlighting these effects derived from the changing climate.
In fact, the series hopes to combat some of these issues, raise awareness of them in the wider viewing public, and actively improve the local environment however seen fit.
Fans are not allowed to attend, to reduce the inevitable environmental impact of multiple spectators. Instead, the entire championship operates from a ship, the St Helena, which the series utilizes mainly as a sustainable paddock for every team to make use of without the need for masses of air freight between events. There is also a scientific research laboratory onboard this former postal ship, said to run on "low-sulphur marine diesel."
The cars themselves are each fitted with spec batteries designed and manufactured by Williams Advanced Engineering, who have had to adapt their battery concepts over the course of the championship's inaugural season last year to operate at their best in extreme temperatures and on rough terrain.