Rosberg X Racing keep the bar high in first Island X Prix Qualifying session

Neustadt, 06. July 2022. Rosberg X Racing was once again the dominating force on the Extreme E grid, taking pole position for the NEOM Island X Prix I. Mikaela Åhlin-Kottulinsky and teammate Johan Kristoffersson delivered a flawless run in the first of two 5-car Qualifying sessions, which took place on the Army Training area at Capo Teulada in Sulcis-Iglesiente, Sardinia. Conditions provided a challenging course with high temperatures and a dusty track with rough bumps. Nevertheless, the team finished fastest in Q1, setting the benchmark for the rest of the grid with a time of 9:13:966. Kristoffersson went on to make the first outing at the second Qualifying round; starting from P2, he immediately took the lead from X44’s Cristina Gutierrez, and continued to plough over the punishing course. While the battle behind the RXR car remained tight, Kristoffersson sped away, and handed over the ODYSSEY21 to Mikaela Åhlin-Kottulinsky with a comfortable gap of 12 seconds to the runner-up XITE Energy Racing. His teammate kept her cool and brought home the first pole position for Rosberg X Racing topping the leaderboard with a substantial lead and 20 intermediate Classification points. Kimmo Liimatainen, Rosberg X Racing Team Principal, said: “It was the first qualifying pole position for us, so we are really happy to have such a great start to the race week. Now it’s all about preparation, some final repairs on the car and remaining calm and focused.” Rosberg X Racing driver, Johan Kristoffersson, commented: “It was a fantastic qualifying session. I felt very comfortable. The track suits me, even though the conditions are a bit tricky. Tomorrow will be an interesting day as the track will certainly change again. We will spend some time with analysis tonight and then we should be ready for a great race.” Mikaela Åhlin-Kottulinsky, Rosberg X Racing driver, added: “I am really happy that we are the top qualifiers. We managed to deliver a strong performance in Q1, and I felt very confident that we could repeat the exercise in Q2. The track is changing a bit, so we need to analyse this before I make the first run in tomorrow’s semi-finals.” The races begin tomorrow from 11.00 GMT. For information on how to watch the Island X Prix, please visit https://www.extreme-e.com/en/broadcast-information.

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