Having started their Extreme E Season 2 campaign with third place at the Desert X Prix, X44 were looking to pick up where they left off in NEOM as the ten teams returned to on track action in Sardinia.
The NEOM Island X Prix I, co-organised by the Automobile Club d’Italia and Regione Sardegna, was the first race without X44 at the top of the Qualifying standings and the first event that didn’t have Sébastien Loeb and Cristina Gutiérrez competing in the Final, as they suffered plenty of ill-fortune throughout the first event of the double-header.
Lewis Hamilton’s outfit got off to a tricky start in Q1, which saw Loeb nurse their ODYSSEY 21 back to the Switch Zone where the Frenchman helped to change a tyre. This was not a first for Loeb and the team, who also changed a tyre mid-run at the Arctic X Prix in Greenland.
Q2 was more familiar territory as a masterclass from Loeb saw the team surge from fourth to second in the five-car Heat, putting them third in Qualifying overall.
Switch Zone troubles hit the team in Semi-Final 2 though. X44 entered in second but left the driver switch in third after struggling to set off. Gutiérrez was then unable to close the subsequent gap and the team fell short of a place in the Final.
Now sitting fifth in the Championship standings with 23 points, X44 will be hoping for better luck in the second part of the double-header to get back to winning ways.
Sébastien Loeb, X44, said: “It was not a great day for us. It was a very tricky race against good teams and then we had difficulty in the Switch Zone which made it even more tough. We are developing and moving our set up, and we are hopeful that for the next race, we will be able to compete well, but for now we are disappointed.”
Cristina Gutiérrez, X44, added: “Right now we don’t feel very happy with our result, it is the first time we have not made the Final so of course it is not an easy thing to accept. The team is working really hard on the car to make sure we are able to do a good job in Round 3 at the weekend, so we will have to see.”