Rosberg X Racing (RXR) were quickest in Q1 at the NEOM Island X Prix II, with their nearest Championship challengers No.99 GMC Hummer EV Chip Ganassi Racing close behind in second. X44 rounded out the top three.
9 July 2022, Sardinia: Mikaela Åhlin-Kottulinksy and Johan Kristoffersson came out on top in the opening session with a time of 9:00:503, over 13 seconds quicker than their effort in last round’s Q1 as the teams pushed their ODYSSEY 21s to the limit.
While RXR enjoyed a comfortable 10-second buffer to the rest of the field, it was a closely fought session behind them with less than five seconds separating the top five teams.
Winners of the first race in the double-header, co-organised by the Automobile Club d’Italia and Regione Sardegna, No.99 GMC Hummer EV finished in second place as they chase another podium finish in Sardinia.
Third in the Q1 standings were X44 as they returned to fighting form, coming out ahead of NEOM McLaren Extreme E and Genesys Andretti United Extreme E in fourth and fifth, respectively.
In sixth place were ABT CUPRA XE, with a particularly impressive lap from Nasser Al-Attiyah who was quickest through Sector 1 in Q1, and finished less than 0.5 seconds off the best lap of the session from Kristoffersson.
Coming in seventh were JBXE and behind them in eighth were Laia Sanz and Carlos Sainz Snr. For ACCIONA | SAINZ XE Team, the latter returning from his big crash in last round’s Final is a huge boost.
XITE ENERGY Racing finished Qualifying 1 in ninth place. The team could have been higher up the order, but Tamara Molinaro lost crucial seconds with a half-spin as she pushed hard with the ENOWA Hyperdrive.
Rounding out the standings were Veloce Racing as the team recovered from a DNF in Q1 earlier this week to put forward a trouble-free two laps.
Results:
- Rosberg X Racing 9:00:503
- No.99 GMC Hummer EV Chip Ganassi Racing +10.741
- X44 +11.374
- NEOM McLaren Extreme E +15.126
- Genesys Andretti United Extreme E +15.203
- ABT CUPRA XE +16.919
- JBXE +21.634
- ACCIONA | SAINZ XE Team +21.701
- XITE ENERGY Racing +22.917
- Veloce Racing +34.065