With just under a month to go until the start of Extreme E’s third season, an interesting change to the competitive format for 2023 has been announced, with more action on the category’s demanding circuits, more side-by-side battles and more races.
In the best Formula E style, there will be double racing on each stage, i.e. following the same 5-race schedule will result in 10 races in total, being renamed X-Prix R.1 and X-Prix R.2, doubling the chances for teams to score wins, podiums and championship points.
“Having a ten-race championship in Extreme E is a tantalizing prospect for everyone on board and we believe that more of them will only enhance our series. We can’t wait for our campaign opener in NEOM (Saudi Arabia) to kick off our biggest season yet,” said Alejandro Agag, series Founder and CEO.
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New Format in Detail
The qualifying format will feature increased pressure, as five cars (in each) will make up Qualifying 1 and Qualifying 2, which will consist of two heats. In this way, intermediate qualifying points will be awarded to determine the order (not valid for the championship), in addition to awarding one point to each winner of each bracket, which will count for the fight for the title.
In this sense, 10 ranking points will be awarded to the first place (plus one point valid for the championship), 8 to the second, 6 to the third, 4 to the fourth and two to the fifth. Adding both numbers of points obtained in Heat 1 and Heat 2 will determine where and in what position each team will race.
After that will come the Grand Final, starring the top five teams in the standings, while those classified from sixth to tenth place will face each other in a new race called “Redemption Race”, where every point that can be obtained will be key to the fight for the championship.
This new format will be held twice (Saturday and Sunday), doubling the number of races and increasing the harvest of points that can be obtained during a weekend without adding any additional carbon footprint, maintaining the principles of sustainability followed by the 100% electric off-road category.
For the championship, Extreme E will award 25 points to the winner, 18 to the second, 15 to the third, 12 to the fourth, 10 to the fifth (so far the Grand Final), 8 to the sixth, 6 to the seventh, 4 to the eighth, 2 to the ninth and one to the tenth (so far the Redemption Race).
In addition, it should be noted that the distances for each circuit and the number of laps will vary according to the place where they compete. Finally, the fan voting process, GridPlay, the Continental Traction Challenge and the ‘ENOWA Hyperdrive’, a boost that drivers will activate on their steering wheel to receive more power for a limited period of time, will be maintained.
Written by | Ronald Ortega
