Extreme E: Dust-Up in Arabia

Extreme E, an electric off-road racing series, created history with its first dust-up over the Easter Weekend in Saudi Arabia’s AlUla region. With its knockout style racing format, the Desert X-Prix witnessed Nico Rosberg’s team clock in at number one. Lewis Hamilton’s X44 outfit finished at number three. Andretti United, run by Michael Andretti and McLaren F1 boss Zak Brown, came in second in the three-car final with Sweden’s Timmy Hansen and Britain’s Catie Munnings. Extreme E is Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) sanctioned race.

The Rosberg X Racing duo of Johan Kristoffersson and Molly Taylor made motorsport history as they set the pace right from the beginning despite the rugged terrain and the intense heat. This was the first race in a series of five (locations ranging from the Arctic to the Amazon; the next race is in Senegal in May), and every team had to field a male and female driver.

Zenith – Keeping Time

Extreme E enlisted Zenith as Official Timekeeper and Founding Partner of electric off-road racing series. This pioneering international off-road racing series uses spec electric SUVs –Odyssey 21 and aims to raise awareness of the environmental consequences of desertification and climate change. Alejandro Agag, Founder and CEO of Extreme E, said, “The margin of success in motorsport has always been measured against the stopwatch, and that’s why I’m delighted that Zenith is Official Timekeeper and Founding Partner. Zenith is a master of accuracy and recognised worldwide for timing and excellence. With only milliseconds the difference between victory and defeat, we can rely on Zenith’s chronometric precision throughout our first season of Extreme E.”

Julien Tornare, CEO of Zenith, added, “Building a green and sustainable future is something very much at the core of what Zenith is doing today. It’s exciting to be at the start of what will undoubtedly become the future of off-road extreme racing while also bringing environmental issues to the forefront. When developing our next collection (unveiling later this week), this is exactly the kind of environment we envisioned for it: Innovative, off the beaten path and pushing the limits of performance to the extreme, where every millisecond counts and every racer can make their mark.”