Loeb joins Hamilton’s Extreme E team
Nine-time World Rally Champion Sébastien Loeb is joining the X44 Extreme E team. Yes, the very same Extreme E team founded by seven-time Formula 1 World Champion Lewis Hamilton. This really is the Avengers of motorsport crossovers.
Loeb will be joined by Dakar star Cristina Gutiérrez on the team, herself famed for becoming the first Spanish female driver to finish the event back in 2017. She’s added a further three finishes to that tally, as a proven all-terrain master near the top of her game. She and Loeb should make a formidable duo when the inaugural season begins in March 2021 in Saudi Arabia.
“I’m delighted to welcome Sébastien and Cristina to X44,” Lewis Hamilton said. “They are both incredible drivers and I’m looking forward to seeing what they’re going to do out there at each race.
“Cristina is an upcoming talent with a great future ahead of her, and Sébastien is a driver I have admired for so many years so I’m so proud and excited to have them on board.”
“Joining team X44 is an opportunity for me to continue to do what I love, which is race, and I’m looking forward to competing in an electric vehicle,” Loeb said.
“Cristina is a fantastic driver and I can’t wait to partner with her and see what we can achieve together. I am really impressed by what Lewis is doing in Formula 1 too, so to be able to work with him on this is an honour.”
Both drivers have had a go in the car, during testing at Donington Park’s off-road facility. “I had the chance to drive the car recently and it is incredible,” Loeb said of the Odyssey 21 EV racer. Cristina came away similarly impressed from her experience with the car, saying “I drove in the car for the first time recently and it was such a great experience. I can’t wait to see what it can do at each race.”
As above, the five-race first Extreme E season opens on 20th-21st March 2021, with the Saudi Arabian ‘Desert X Prix’. The ‘Ocean X Prix’ in Senegal, ‘Arctic X Prix’ in Greenland, ‘Amazon X Prix’ in Brazil and ‘Glacier X Prix’ in Argentina will follow in May, August, October and December.
Sebastien Loeb
Cristina Gutierrez
WRC
Dakar
Extreme E
Lewis Hamilton
