A Spectacular Grand Finale For The Inaugural Extreme E Season At Jurassic X Prix In England

The inaugural season of Extreme E has come to a thrilling end. Zenith, the Official Timekeeper and Founding Partner of the world’s first electric car rally championship, took to the English county of Dorset on the Jurassic Coast to support the final race in what has been in an incredible first year for the motorsport of the future.

Zenith and Extreme E has as natural a fit as they come. Led by the spirit of innovation while promoting values of sustainability and gender equality, the first integrated Swiss watch manufacture and the first electric rally championship share much in common. Whether it is Zenith’s own initiatives encompassing all its activities from internal processes and product development or the associations and ambassadors it chooses to support, these actionable values are reflected in Extreme E unique and game-changing approach of racing with a purpose, by giving women equal opportunities behind the wheel and going and raising awareness around climate change and leading initiatives to mitigate its effects wherever races are held.

After the first four races in remote locations spread across four continents, the final showdown took place at the British Ministry of Defence Base at Bovington. With a course spanning 3.8 kilometres with a mixed surface of clay, sand, gravel and mud, the 9 teams and 18 drivers encountered a new kind of challenge on a track where gaining any kind of grip on the slippery terrain was nearly impossible.

CROWNING THE FIRST EXTREME E CHAMPIONS

From the start of the Jurassic X Prix weekend, it was down to two teams racing neck and neck for the championship title: X44 and Rosberg X Racing (RXR). X44 kept their championship hopes alive by finishing fastest in Qualifying at the Jurassic X Prix for the fifth time this season and secured the team’s first pole position win of the championship. RXR finished in 4th place.

And although both rival teams finished the race with totalling the same 155 championship points, it was RXR’s Johan Kristoffersson and Molly Taylor that took home the first Extreme E championship title due to having more X Prix victories over the course of the season, with three wins out of the five races.

“We are so delighted to be crowned the inaugural Extreme E Champions and I am really proud of the entire RXR team. The team has worked so hard all season and performed consistently, racing in some of the world’s most remote locations. To be Champions is such an honour”, shared RXR team founder and former Formula 1 champion Nico Rosberg. He added, “A massive congratulations to our drivers, Molly Taylor and Johan Kristoffersson, who have been excellent all season. We came into Extreme E to raise awareness of climate change, and promote sustainability, but also as a racing team, we want to win and so we will remember this feeling forever.”

MOMENT IN TIME AWARD: RECOGNIZING EXCEPTIONAL PERFORMANCE

As in all the five Extreme E races this season, Zenith and social media users voted to highlight one driver who demonstrated an unexpected and jaw-dropping performance with its Moment In Time prize. On the Jurassic X final race, Segi TV Chip Ganassi Racing team’s Sara Price achieved the longest and highest jump on the track’s “Knife Edge”. Immortalizing her incredible feat, Sara was awarded a Zenith DEFY Midnight watch.

Sara Price shared: “I can’t stop smiling! I am really excited to have won the Zenith Moment in Time award at the Jurassic X Prix. The weekend unfortunately didn’t go our way, but we gave it everything we had in the crazy race in hopes of making the final. Kyle made a great pass early in his run to get us a little closer to the top spot, but I knew I had to push hard on my lap to catch Catie (Munnings). I took a pretty aggressive approach over the big jump, and coming to the final gate I knew taking the alternate line up the right side of the hill was my only shot to catch her. This award has recognized some really epic moments this season and I’m honoured to be recognized and to represent the team for their hard work. We couldn’t put down the laps we do if they didn’t do a great job getting the car set up like they do. Thanks to Zenith for the prize and for supporting Extreme E all year long. I’ve wanted to win a Zenith Defy Midnight all year, so glad to end the season with one on my wrist!”. Sara Price now joins Catie Munnings, Kyle LeDuc, Molly Taylor and Mattias Ekström as Extreme E’s first season Zenith Moment In Time award winners.

RACING FOR A GREENER FUTURE

One of the main pillars of Extreme E and the reasons why Zenith was so eager to come onboard is raising awareness on climate change and bringing lasting change to the locations where its races are held through its Legacy Programme. Led by its Scientific Committee and working with local NGO’s and associations, Extreme E tailors its initiatives to the specific needs of each environment.
For its Dorset Legacy Programme, Extreme E is supporting the National Trust that is working to reintroduce beavers to Purbeck, in the wetlands at the heart of the Studland’s dune system. Once introduced back into the local ecosystem, the beavers would open hundreds of hectares of wetlands that have been in ecological decline for decades, improving water quality and restoring freshwater fen and pool habitats for other wildlife.

ZENITH ON BOARD FOR SEASON 2

A thrilling, entertaining and eye-opening experience, the first season of Extreme E was a huge success for the organizers as well as the teams, drivers and fans who followed the intercontinental journey. With so many destinations around the world that could accommodate the electric racing championship and so much action to be undertaken to preserve and improve the ecology and sustainability of these remote environments, Zenith is proud to continue its support of Extreme E as Official Timekeeper and Founding Partner of the Extreme E 2022 season, which is slated to begin in February in Saudi Arabia.

From next season, Zenith will also be more actively involved in Extreme E’s legacy programs, with some exciting news to be announced throughout 2022.

On the continued partnership, Zenith CEO Julien Tornare shared “We are totally blown away by the kind of energy and passion we got to witness during our first year of collaboration with Extreme E. I’m proud that Zenith can say it joined this innovative championship from day one, and that our shared values of gender equality, sustainability, and innovation for the greater good was felt in everything we did together. We can’t wait for the 2022 season!”

ZENITH: TIME TO REACH YOUR STAR.

Zenith exists to inspire individuals to pursue their dreams and make them come true – against all odds. Since its establishment in 1865, Zenith became the first watch manufacture in the modern sense of the term, and its watches have accompanied extraordinary figures that dreamt big and strived to achieve the impossible – from Louis Blériot’s history-making flight across the English Channel to Felix Baumgartner’s record-setting stratospheric free-fall jump. Zenith is also highlighting visionary and trailblazing women – past and present – by celebrating their accomplishments and creating the DREAMHERS platform where women share their experiences and inspire others to fulfill their dreams.

Zenith exclusively uses its own in-house developed and manufactured movements across all of its watches. Since the creation of the El Primero in 1969, the world’s first automatic chronograph calibre, Zenith has gone on to master the complication with even more precision, capable of measurements to the closest 1/10th of a second in the most recent Chronomaster lines, and 1/100th of a second in the DEFY collection. Zenith has been shaping the future of Swiss watchmaking since 1865, accompanying those who dare to challenge themselves and break barriers. The time to reach your star is now.

ABOUT EXTREME E.

Extreme E is a radical new racing series, which see electric SUVs competing in extreme environments around the world which have already been damaged or affected by climate and environmental issues. The five-race global voyage highlights the impact of climate change and human interference in some of the world’s most remote locations and promotes the adoption of electric vehicles in the quest for a lower carbon future for the planet. To minimise local impact, Extreme E races are not open to spectators, with fans instead invited to follow the action through live TV broadcast, and on social media.

The St. Helena, a former passenger cargo ship, has undergone a multi-million Euro refit to minimise emissions and transform her into Extreme E’s operations hub. The ship is used to transport the championship’s freight and infrastructure, including vehicles, to the nearest port, minimising Extreme E’s footprint, as well as being used to facilitate scientific research through its on-board laboratory.

Extreme E is also pioneering hydrogen fuel cell technology which will enable its race fleet to be charged using zero emission energy. This innovative solution from AFC Energy uses water and sun to generate hydrogen power. Not only does this process emit no greenhouse emissions, its only by-product is water, which will be utilised elsewhere on-site.

Season 2 Calendar:

Round1: NEOM, Saudi Arabia 19-20 February 2022

Round 2: Sardinia, Italy 07-08 May 2022

Round 3: Scotland or Senegal 09-10 July 2022

Round 4: Antofagasta, Chile 10-11 September 2022

Round 5: Punta del Este, Uruguay 26-27 November 2022