Taylor and Hansen star in Saudi Extreme E season opener
Veloce Racing celebrated its best ever Extreme E weekend as the British squad took a phenomenal victory and second place finish from the Desert X Prix doubleheader in NEOM, Saudi Arabia (11-12 March).
Molly Taylor and Kevin Hansen surged to a maiden memorable Grand Final win on Saturday afternoon but had to do it all again on Sunday when the world’s best off-road racers lined up once more in the all-electric series.
The team immediately proved its undoubted pace by taking victory in the opening Qualifying race, with Taylor’s move past the Andretti machine of Catie Munnings being a particular highlight.
The Veloce duo repeated the trick in Q2, this time cruising to its fourth race win of an incredible weekend.
With another Grand Final facing the squad, Hansen blasted away and was embroiled in an eye-catching battle for second with the Rosberg X Racing car. Veloce’s Swedish star hassled and harried the former champions throughout the contest, and eventually made an incredible move stick on his final lap.
The battle for second had enabled the lead ACCIONA | SAINZ car to scamper into a commanding lead, so Taylor set about consolidating an important place on the podium as she comfortably pulled clear of the RXR rival during her stint.
Incredibly, Veloce Racing recorded results inside the top two in each of the eight competitive sessions across the weekend, underlying its talent and potential at this early stage of a new Extreme E season.
When the dust settled in the desert here in NEOM, Veloce Racing and the ACCIONA | SAINZ XE Team share the spoils at the top of the standings with RXR currently in third.
Extreme E – Season 3 now moves on to Scotland for the Hydro X Prix doubleheader on 13/14 May.
Molly Taylor, Veloce Racing driver, said: “As weekends go it couldn’t have gone much better. Everyone in the team has done such a great job and I don’t think I have ever had so much fun along the way.
“A victory, a double podium and being inside the top two in every session is not easy to achieve, particularly in this championship, so we can all be delighted with the performance and look forward to the rest of the season.”
Kevin Hansen, Veloce Racing driver, said: “I am extremely happy and super proud of everyone in the team. We knew we had the pace but to execute this performance in every single session is a fantastic feeling.
“We have shown that we can lead from the front, but we can also go wheel-to-wheel for position, as both Molly and I have made up places during the day.
“We know we have the right package in place, and we look forward to taking this confidence to Scotland in May.”
Daniel Bailey, CEO of Veloce Racing, added: “We are going home with five trophies, and I couldn’t be happier with the way the opening weekend of the season has gone for us.
“We proved our pace by being at the sharp end throughout the week and then both Molly and Kevin executed the game plan perfectly to turn that performance into points and podiums.
“It has been a long time coming but now we are committed to making sure it’s the first celebratory weekend of many"
Content supplied by
Simon Melluish
MPA Creative, MPA House, 66 Baker Street, Weybridge, Surrey, KT13 8AL , United Kingdom
Email: simon.melluish@mpacreative.com
Phone: +44 (0)7590 683299
Hermione Hatfield
MPA Creative, MPA House, 66 Baker Street, Weybridge, Surrey, KT13 8AL , United Kingdom
Email: hermione.hatfield@mpacreative.com
Phone: +44 (0)7878 556033
