Sardinia is the Amazon of Extreme E, the new “politically correct” championship for electric SUVs. The island was chosen to replace the stop in the forest of Brazil, a nation where Covid is still scary. Saturday and Sunday the military area of Capo Teulada hosts the Enel X Island X Prix, the fourth of the five stages of the circuit. The nine teams have already been working for a few days in Sardinia, where the circuit measures 7 kilometers in length with an elevation gain of only 28 meters, a “nonsense” compared to the tracks in Saudi Arabia and Greenland. The pitfalls are hidden in the rugged terrain, which could hold bitter surprises for pilots.
Extreme E was born from an idea of the Spanish Alejandro Agag, son-in-law of the former conservative Spanish Prime Minister Josè Maria Aznar and former inventor of the Formula E electric single-seater championship, which also makes a stop in Rome. Many famous names involved: the championship is now led by X Racing, the team of former Formula 1 world champion Nico Rosberg. Second in the standings is the X44 team, the team created by Lewis Hamilton: at the wheel is rally legend Sébastien Loeb. Jenson Button is also involved in Extreme E: he not only founded a team, the JBXE, but he was at the wheel of the Odyssey 21 during the first race. The 4.4-meter long, 45-centimeter ground clearance electric SUV is powered by two motors for a total of 400 kW (200 hours of maximum speed) and a 40 kWh battery. Starting from 0 to 100 per hour occurs in less than 5 seconds.
Motor racing was created to raise public awareness on environmental and gender issues: equality is guaranteed by the regulation, which requires each crew to be made up of a woman and a man. Agag looks like a rights champion and not a businessman. «I do not promote women’s rights to be politically correct – said Agaga La Stampa – but because half of the world is female: it is important that our sport reflects this reality. I would like it to be clear that engagement is not just about drivers, because our championship also has many women working in other important roles, from engineering to event management, and is committed to growing their profile to inspire generations. future “. Agag adds that his aim “is that one day women’s participation in mortsport reaches such levels that it is no longer news.”
Isn’t it curious that a championship for SUVs, albeit electric, is born in the name of the environment? “Our goal is to highlight the impact of climate change, promote the adoption of electric vehicles and pave the way for a low-carbon tomorrow – says Agag -. The share of SUVs has grown between three and five percentage points a year, from 2014 onwards, and is now worth more than a third of the market. These models are the most polluting and helping to increase the spread of electric SUVs means helping to reduce global emissions ».
The championship was supposed to end in South America, Brazil first and Argentina then, and instead it will end in Europe, between Sardinia and, apparently, England. “We chose Sardinia because it allows us to keep our attention focused on some challenges that concern Europe and the whole world: I am referring, for example, to the efforts for reforestation after the consequences of the fires and to the conservation of the marine ecosystem. But Sardinia also has a great history when it comes to rallying. I can’t wait for the race to take place and for this I want to thank the Automobile Club of Italy, the Region, the Ministry of Defense and the Italian Army who supported us step by step ». What about next year? “We want to be transparent, Italy is one of the options”.
The program includes the Shakedown for Friday evening; qualifying takes place between 11am and 1pm and 4pm and 6pm on Saturday. On Sunday the semifinals (between 12 and 13.30) and the final (16-18).
