Lewis Hamilton, Sebastien Loeb team up in Extreme E

By Dec 10, 2020, 7:01 PM EST
Loeb Hamilton Extreme E
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Two of motorsports biggest names will pair up in the Extreme E series in 2021 when Sebastien Loeb joins Lewis Hamilton’s team behind the wheel of his X44 in Saudi Arabia on March 20-21. Cristina Gutierrez will be the female driver in this series that pairs male and female racers.

Hamilton announced earlier this year that he would field a car in the inaugural season of the five-race series that features electric SUVs in global locations most threatened by climate change. Extreme E has targeted five countries that are endangered by melting ice caps, deforestation, desertification and rising sea levels. Senegal, Greenland, Brazil, and Argentina will also host races.

Loeb established himself as one of the most successful rally racers all time with a record nine World Rally Championships and 79 race wins. His most recent World Rally Championship came in 2012. He also won the World Rallycross Championship three times from 2016-2018.

“Joining team X44 is an opportunity for me to continue to do what I love, which is race, and I’m looking forward to competing in an electric vehicle,” said Loeb in a press release. “I had the chance to drive the car recently and it is incredible. Cristina is a fantastic driver and I can’t wait to partner with her and see what we can achieve together.

“I am really impressed by what Lewis is doing in Formula 1 too, so to be able to work with him on this is an honor.”

Hamilton is the reigning Formula 1 champion, who clinched his record-tying seventh title in the Turkish GP with three races remaining on the 2020 schedule.

Gutierrez made history in the 2017 Dakar Rally by becoming the first Spanish female racer to finish in the car category. She was fifth among first time drivers that year.

“Not only will we get the opportunity to raise awareness of the climate crisis, which is very important to me, but I get to work with two heroes of mine,” Gutierrez added. “Sebastien Loeb is the most incredible rally driver of all time so I’m really happy that I get to partner with him and I hope to learn a lot.”

Loeb and Gutierrez recently tested their car at Donington Park Circuit’s off-road track. The series features a single-design Odyssey 21 electric SUV. Manufacturers have traditionally fielded cars as a way to test and develop the durability of their product and the series is designed to help pave the way for a less carbon-intensive future.

“We have now announced over half of the grid for our inaugural season and it is shaping up to be a fantastic competition with drivers, both male and female, from a mix of ages and motorsport disciplines getting behind the wheel of our electric SUV,” said Alejandro Agag, CEO and founder of Extreme E. “I can’t wait to go racing next year!”

The Extreme E driver lineup has begun to fill out ahead of its inaugural season.

Johan Kristoffersson and Molly Taylor were recently announced as the drivers for Nico Rosberg’s entry. Noted American off-road racer Kyle Leduc and Sara Price were named as drivers for Chip Ganassi’s entry. Andretti Autosport named Catie Munnings and Timmy Hansen as its drivers for 2021.

Winner Josef Newgarden earns $3.666 million from a record Indy 500 purse of $17 million

By May 29, 2023, 6:01 PM EDT
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INDIANAPOLIS — The first Indy 500 victory for Josef Newgarden also was the richest in race history from a record 2023 purse of just more than $17 million.

The two-time NTT IndyCar Series champion, who continued his celebration Monday morning at Indianapolis Motor Speedway earned $3.666 million for winning the 107th running of the Greatest Spectacle in Racing.

The purse and winner’s share both are the largest in the history of the Indianapolis 500.

It’s the second consecutive year that the Indy 500 purse set a record after the 2022 Indy 500 became the first to crack the $16 million mark (nearly doubling the 2021 purse that offered a purse of $8,854,565 after a crowd limited to 135,000 because of the COVID-19 pandemic).

The average payout for IndyCar drivers was $500,600 (exceeding last year’s average of $485,000).

Indianapolis Motor Speedway owner Roger Penske, whose team also fields Newgarden’s No. 2 Dallara-Chevrolet, had made raising purses a priority since buying the track in 2020. But Penske but was unable to post big money purses until the race returned to full capacity grandstands last year.

The largest Indy 500 purse before this year was $14.4 million for the 2008 Indy 500 won by Scott Dixon (whose share was $2,988,065). Ericsson’s haul made him the second Indy 500 winner to top $3 million (2009 winner Helio Castroneves won $3,048,005.

Runner-up Marcus Ericsson won $1.043 million after falling short by 0.0974 seconds in the fourth-closest finish in Indy 500 history.

The 107th Indy 500 drew a crowd of at least 330,000 that was the largest since the sellout for the 100th running in 2016, and the second-largest in more than two decades, according to track officials.

“This is the greatest race in the world, and it was an especially monumental Month of May featuring packed grandstands and intense on-track action,” Penske Entertainment president and CEO Mark Miles said in a release. “Now, we have the best end card possible for the 107th Running of the Indianapolis 500: a record-breaking purse for the history books.”

Benjamin Pedersen was named the Indy 500 rookie of the year, earning a $50,000 bonus.

The race’s purse is determined through contingency and special awards from IMS and IndyCar. The awards were presented Monday night in the annual Indy 500 Victory Celebration at the JW Marriott in downtown Indianapolis.

The payouts for the 107th Indy 500:

1. Josef Newgarden, $3,666,000
2. Marcus Ericsson, $1,043,000
3. Santino Ferrucci, $481,800
4. Alex Palou, $801,500
5. Alexander Rossi, $574,000
6. Scott Dixon, $582,000
7. Takuma Sato, $217,300
8. Conor Daly, $512,000
9. Colton Herta, $506,500
10. Rinus VeeKay, $556,500
11. Ryan Hunter‐Reay, $145,500
12. Callum Ilott, $495,500
13. Devlin DeFrancesco, $482,000
14. Scott McLaughlin, $485,000
15. Helio Castroneves, $481,500
16. Tony Kanaan, $105,000
17. Marco Andretti, $102,000
18. Jack Harvey, $472,000
19. Christian Lundgaard, $467,500
20. Ed Carpenter, $102,000
21. Benjamin Pedersen (R), $215,300
22. Graham Rahal, $565,500*
23. Will Power, $488,000
24. Pato O’Ward, $516,500
25. Simon Pagenaud, $465,500
26. Agustín Canapino (R), $156,300
27. Felix Rosenqvist, $278,300
28. Kyle Kirkwood, $465,500
29. David Malukas, $462,000
30. Romain Grosjean, $462,000
31. Sting Ray Robb (R), $463,000
32. RC Enerson (R), $103,000
33.  Katherine Legge, $102,000

*–Broken down between two teams, $460,000 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, $105,500 Dreyer & Reinbold Racing/Cusick Motorsports