Extreme E alters Saudi Arabia format after dust concerns
Excessive dust in the Saudi Arabian desert has led Extreme E to alter the format of its qualifying heats and finals only two days ahead of the championship’s inaugural round.
Multi-car qualifying races for the Desert X-Prix event in AlUla have been replaced by single-car time trials on the Saturday.
Each driver pairing will complete one morning run and one afternoon run and have their average lap time taken to decide the grid for the semi-finals.
The choice of starting order for these qualification time trials will still be based on a lottery draw.
The grids for the semi-finals and final on Sunday have now been capped at three entries in favour of the previous plan to have the nine teams compete over one five-car and a four-car run.
This is largely out of concern for safety, due to narrower track confines for the five-mile circuit and the increased levels of dust kicked up by the cars compared to the initial Saudi recce in January.
Extreme E co-founder Alejandro Agag said: “When we came and we tested in January, we sort of thought of this.
“There was no dust because of the humidity of the night. The sand was more humid. The cars were going and no dust was coming up. We arrived here last week: huge clouds of dust.
“So, we tweaked the race format. Saturday, one by one. It's going to be very cool. Then, races of three cars instead of four [and five] cars.
“It's going to be fine. Actually, it's going to look pretty cool. It's going to look like Mad Max, all the cars going and the dust behind.”
Competitors were informed of the alterations to the format by Agag at 1800hrs on Wednesday during a drivers’ briefing.
Extreme E had planned to undertake three simulation races in preparation for its maiden season, however they were all cancelled as a result of the pandemic.
Agag added: “'Let's go have an experiment that costs already like 40 million euros to see how it works. That's what we're doing so it's a big risk.”
Agag is also toying with the idea of having a surprise television reveal of the starting drivers.
Teams need only decide which of their male and female driver will take the race start five minutes ahead of the scheduled start time.
He wants all six drivers entered into the three-car heat to line up alongside one another. The driver taking the race start for each team will then step forward on command to reveal themselves.
As part of this plan, only Agag will be aware of the nominated driver. He will then check that no teams have made a pre-mediate switch in response to which of their rivals steps forward.
Prodrive joins forces with Hamilton's Extreme E team
Button competing in Extreme E to improve off-road racing skills
Why McLaren has taken its unprecedented off-road left turn
McLaren will be in distinctly unfamiliar territory this weekend as it makes its Extreme E debut. But this rugged left turn serves as a means to an end to inspire a greater good
How XE's Arctic adventure gave a chilly reminder of the fixes to find
Extreme E’s third round provided the very definition of extreme conditions in the Arctic Circle, and despite settling on a successful format and Andretti United taking a maiden win, there remains plenty of work to do with the spec cars that froze in action
Why McLaren’s surprise electric path can benefit everyone involved
McLaren's announcement that it will enter the Extreme E series for electric SUVs next year came as something of a surprise. But it brings benefits that other championships it could seek to enter cannot, while providing a timely boost to a start-up that has had to cancel two of its South American rounds.
Why Extreme E's Senegal round hints at the series' true potential
Extreme E's second round on the sands of Senegal refined some the more clunky aspects of the series' debut event in Saudi Arabia. Even though its star-studded finale between Lewis Hamilton's X44 team and Rosberg X Racing proved anticlimactic, the pieces are in place for the series to only get better
How Extreme E exceeded expectations to pass its first major test
The racing may have lacked the explosive conclusion to Formula E's first race in 2014 and was not without its hiccups. But Extreme E's leap into the unknown appears to have paid off, delivering a spectacle quite unlike anything else
Extreme E: The team-by-team guide
The world’s newest motorsport discipline is set to go racing for the first time this weekend. Extreme E’s innovations and plans have raised some eyebrows, but it also provides an exciting list of competitors and teams for the inaugural campaign
How Extreme E’s charging solution could transform motorsport
The new off-road SUV series aims to go boldly into the unknown on several fronts, but perhaps its most significant measure will involve the energy source powering its fleet of cars
How XE's star power puts Formula E under pressure
With the addition of Jenson Button's own team to join the involvement of fellow Formula 1 champions Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg in Extreme E's ranks, the new electric SUV series is brimming with star power to enable it to deliver on its promise