Copper X-Prix promises gold in Extreme-E 2023 finale

Extreme E – Copper X-Prix, Antofagasta, Chile, December 2-3

Chile will host the Extreme E season finale with five teams vying for the championship, at the end of the electric-powered series’ third campaign. Sainz XE leads the way on 139 points, with 2021 champion Rosberg X Racing three behind. Veloce, Chip Ganassi and defending winner Team X44, founded by Lewis Hamilton, also have an outside chance with 58 points left available at the end of a tight season.

It has also been the most wide open campaign to date, with a record number of teams fighting for the championship on the final weekend. There was a different victor in each of the opening four rounds, before Nico Rosberg’s outfit ended a winless start with two victories in the season’s first visit to Sardinia. When the all-electric series returned to the Italian island, a win for Sainz consolidated its championship lead ahead of Extreme E’s visit to Chile.

Named the Copper X-Prix, inspired by the area’s history with copper mining, drivers will race through the Atacama Desert on a high-altitude circuit that features fast and slow-speed corners with many elevation changes. The event was won by X44 last year, but this season there will be two races to negotiate, which creates opportunity for plenty of twists in the championship fight. Given the layout, it may favour Rosberg’s team which boasts record five-time Rallycross champion Johan Kristoffersson. Then again, Sainz XE has an ace all-rounder up his sleeve in the form of Mattias Ekström, so there really isn’t a lot to separate them.

Meanwhile, the fight at the bottom is also tight. Cupra and Andretti are separated by just four points in a battle for sixth, while McLaren, JBXE – the only team without a podium this season – and Carl Cox Motorsport have five points between them in the bottom three places. Whatever happens, it promises to be a thrilling season end where a new Extreme E champion may be crowned.

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