Extreme E: Start of the season for CUPRA in Saudi Arabia!

Photos by Cupra (Seat Sport SA) / Charlie Lopez

CUPRA is ready for one of the most extreme and demanding motorsport adventures in the world: the Extreme E. On the weekend (April 3-4), the first round of the new off-road racing series with fully electric SUVs will take place in Saudi Arabia. Aspects such as electrification, sustainability and equality are just as important as the race against climate change. Each event is used to draw attention to special challenges in the respective region.

Extreme E: Start of the season for CUPRA

The Desert X Prix takes the teams to Saudi Arabia, where the largest contiguous sand desert in the world is located. The race will be held in Al-'Ula, an oasis in the north-west of the country. The effects of climate change in this region include rising temperatures and more frequent periods of drought. Around twelve million hectares of land become sterile every year, due to desertification and drought alone.

“CUPRA is an unconventional Challenger brand and wants to help reshape the future of motorsport. The topics of electromobility, sustainability and equality all over the world should be the focus ”, says Wayne Griffiths, Chairman of the Board of Management and Chief Sales and Marketing Officer of SEAT SA and CEO of CUPRA. “Extreme E is the ideal platform to spread these messages because it was created with collectively relevant intentions. This gives us the opportunity to think about how to make a difference. However, the Extreme E also serves as a rolling laboratory and enables us to study the electric drive in more detail under extreme conditions and to integrate it into everyday life. "

Two strong partners, one strong team

CUPRA is tackling the Extreme E together with ABT Sportsline. The ABT CUPRA XE team is one of nine teams that will be part of the start of this new era of motorsport. The team put the 400 kW (544 PS) e-CUPRA ABT XE1 through its paces while preparing for the season opener. The 4,5 kilogram off-road SUV accelerates from 1.650 to 0 km / h in just 100 seconds and masters inclines of up to 130 percent.

At the wheel of the e-CUPRA ABT XE1 with the starting number 125, the German driver Claudia Hürtgen and the Swede Mattias Ekström will take turns - just one spectacular aspect in the Extreme E. Hürtgen is one of the most successful racing drivers in Europe. Among other things, Ekström is two-time DTM champion and 2016 rallycross world champion. The two experienced motorsport drivers are already preparing mentally and physically for the race in Saudi Arabia.

“There are only a few days left until the start of the first Extreme E race. Claudia and I can hardly wait to be on the starting grid "says Mattias Ekström. "We are very happy to be part of this racing series with its very innovative format: 100% electric, races in some of the most impressive places in the world, driven by teams consisting of one driver. If you take all these points into account and then add the high weight of the car, the tires with a low grip level and the right amount of power, the Extreme E is very interesting. We are ready for the start. "

Extreme E: This is how the racing series works

A race weekend extends over two days: Qualifying 1 to 4 take place on Saturday, the semi-finals and the final on Sunday. In each race, two laps with a length of around ten kilometers are covered, with one lap being driven by the male and one by the female team member. In each round, the teams have a short-term performance boost (“hyperdrive”). Points for the championship will be awarded in qualifying as well as in the final races on Sunday.

In Germany, Austria and Switzerland, the Extreme E races will be broadcast on ProSieben Maxx. After the start in Saudi Arabia, the racing series will stop at four other unique locations: at Lake Retba (Lac Rose) in Senegal, in Kangerlussuaq in Greenland, in the Brazilian state of Pará and for the finale in Tierra del Fuego, the southern tip of Argentina.

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