After finishing fourth in the final round of the inaugural five-race Extreme E season, Rosberg X Racing with drivers Johan Kristoffersson and Molly Taylor were crowned champions. The season ended with a tie for the top spot with X44’s Sebastian Loeb and Cristina Gutierrez also earning 155 points, but the tiebreaker went to Rosberg X on the strength of that team’s three wins.
Rosberg Racing won the first two rounds and Round 4, which gave them the lead heading into the finale. X44, owned by Formula 1 star Lewis Hamilton and rally standout Sebastien Loeb, did their best to close the gap by winning the final round, the Jurassic X Prix. Rosberg Racing finished fourth in that race to force the tie.
“It’s fantastic; this has been a new racing series, new team, and new locations but we’ve worked so hard to get here, and to be champions really feels amazing,” Kristoffersson said in a series release. “Molly drove excellently today, managing the challenging conditions and I knew that all that remained for me was to not make any mistakes and bring the car home safely. We’re delighted to be champions and look forward to celebrating with the team.”
In most racing series, there can be only one champion. The unique rules of Extreme E pair a male and female driver in each team and provide two champions.
“It feels amazing to be the first-ever championship winners of Extreme E,” said Taylor. “This season has been brutal, racing in some of the most remote parts of the world in truly extreme conditions, but we’ve worked together as a team and we’re delighted with this result.
“The nerves were definitely there today but Johan and I kept our eyes on the final prize, and the whole team effort across many months has brought us to this point today.”
Champions mud fight 😂 This is how Team @rosbergxracing celebrates Extreme E Championships…😎 This reaction at the end!!
While the top two teams finished first and fourth, the start of the final race of the season saw them leave the starting line wheel-to-wheel. Gutierrez feathered her Odyssey 21 to full power on the loose soil quickest with Taylor falling into second. As the race progressed, Taylor was passed by Mikhaela Ahlin-Kottulinsky (JBXE) and Catie Munnings (Andretti United). Taylor could not afford to fall any lower if Rosberg Racing wanted to win the title.
When the driving duties were handed over to Kristoffersson, the drama evaporated in the Driver Switch Zone as Rosberg X Racing padded the advantage over the Carlos Sainz led team. Securing the fourth position was enough to create the tiebreaker.
“This has been a challenging championship for us, but this weekend was the best so far,” said race winner and second-place championship contender Loeb. “We came first in qualifying in every X Prix, but we kept having bad luck in the finals – so to end on equal points with RXR after the season they’ve had is incredible and shows what we can do.
“I’m confident we will do even better next year, but for now we will be celebrating with the team.”
Lawrence led all 16 laps of both races after taking the holeshot in the second moto and grabbing the lead from Dylan Ferrandis in Turn 2 of Moto 1. Lawrence claimed a four-second lead in Moto 1 and five seconds in Moto 2, but as dominant as it seems on paper, there were some exciting moments during the weekend. In the second race, Lawrence wanted to build an advantage that would allow him to maintain his pace and he nearly high-sided a couple of times in heavy ruts.
In his second race back from a concussion, Ferrandis finished in the runner-up spot with a second in Moto 1 and a third in Moto 2. While his finish of second overall goes into the record books, Pro Motocross points are rewarded for each individual race and that meant Ferrandis lost eight points in championship battle to Lawrence. With Sexton failing to mount up for the race, Ferrandis advanced to second in the standings with an 18-point gap to Lawrence. Equally important, Ferrandis gained ground in the SuperMotocross World Championship (WSX) points and now has a gap of 44 over 21st-place Justin Starling.
Cooper Webb is also in his second round since returning from a Supercross injury suffered in Nashville at the end of their season. Claiming results of fourth and second in the two races, Webb earned 40 SuperMotocross points at Hangtown and closed in on Sexton in the WSX battle. Sexton entered Hangtown with a large enough lead that he could not be overtaken, but he is now only 38 points up and could face a difficult decision next week at Thunder Valley in Lakewood, Colorado if he wants to hold onto his lead.
Aaron Plessinger had an adventurous weekend in which he seemed to close on Lawrence in his second race before crashing and dropping to fourth. Coupled with a fifth-place finish in Moto 1, he earned 35 points and was credited with fourth overall.
Cashing in on confidence he gained in the final rounds of the Supercross season, Adam Cianciarulo earned his first top-five of the Pro Motocross championship after narrowly missing out last week with a sixth. He earned the distinction with consistent results of fifth in Moto 1 and fourth in Moto 2.
Hunter Lawrence showed his back to the competition at Hangtown, just as he did the week prior at Fox Raceway. – Align Media
The Lawrence brothers made history last week as the first siblings to win in two Pro Motocross divisions on the same day. Fans should get accustomed to seeing this happen with some regularity as Hunter Lawrence posted identical results in Hangtown to those he had at Fox Raceway in the season opener.
In both races, Lawrence got off to a slow start in Moto 1 and had to claw his way back to the podium. He dominated Moto 2 in both rounds to earn the overall victories.
Justin Cooper did not allow Lawrence to gain much of an advantage in the Motocross points’ standings, however. Finishing second in both motos, the earned only one point less than Lawrence. His modest showing in Round 1 of the outdoor season has him 12 points out of first in the championship standings.
Haiden Deegan scored his first moto win in just his fourth start in the series. In the first race of the day, he had to withstand constant pressure from Cooper, but when his teammate closed in on him, Deegan reached down and found a little more speed. Now that he’s won one of these races, he has his sight set on challenging Lawrence for the title. Deegan is second in the Pro Motocross championship standings with a 10-point deficit to the leader.
Haiden Deegan scored podiums in both Motocross rounds of 2023. – Align Media
RJ Hampshire rounded out the top five with a pair of fifth-place results and 32 points for the round. Even though the deficit is a whopping 61 points, Hampshire climbed to second in the SuperMotocross championship standings now that Jett Lawrence has moved to the big bikes.
Jalek Swoll struggled last week and finished 21st overall at Fox Raceway. This week, he finished on the cusp of 10th in both races with a ninth in Moto 1 and 11th in Moto 2. In the SuperMotocross standings, he has a lot of ground to make up. He currently sits 49th on the chart with a 70-point gap to Chance Hymas, who is on the bubble to earn a guaranteed position in the SMX Mains for the three playoff races that will be held on September.
