There is just one week to go until Scotland’s flagship motorsport event in Glenmuckloch, the Hydro X Prix, as the pioneering electric racing championship Extreme E makes its return to the UK.
The series’ upcoming Scottish event will take place in the former opencast Glenmuckloch mine in Dumfries and Galloway on May 13 and 14.
This represents a UK return for the sport-for-purpose series, as it delivers its third season highlighting climate issues and solutions across the globe.
Racing at the restored former opencast coal mine will provide a poignant backdrop for Extreme E, with the mine about to undergo the next phase of its major transformation into a Pumped Storage Hydropower plant and wind farm.
Alejandro Agag, founder and CEO of Extreme E, said: “We could not have found a more perfect racing site than the former Glenmuckloch coal mine. Here in Scotland, our race site will play homage to the much-needed transition of an old coal mine which is being given a new and exciting lease of life as a hydro-project, which will provide a fully renewable energy source for the region for centuries to come.”
“Extreme E continues to push the boundaries of sustainable motorsport, and so to come to Scotland and be aligned with its increasing focus on renewable energy is fantastic,” he said.
“We enjoyed two great races at our first round in Saudi Arabia, with two debut winners, and with the championship closer than ever we are expecting a spectacular Hydro X Prix in Scotland.”
There will be one new face amongst the lineup of drivers on the Extreme E grid in the form of rallycross star Andreas Bakkerud. Although not a stranger to the series, having signed as a championship driver ahead of the Desert X Prix in NEOM, Saudi Arabia, the Norwegian will make his debut for Jenson Button’s JBXE outfit in Scotland.
Bakkerud will be looking to kickstart the team’s season three campaign, with JBXE currently lying ninth in the championship standings. The leaderboard is headed by Veloce Racing, which picked up their first victory in Saudi Arabia, narrowly ahead of ACCIONA | SAINZ XE Team that also picked their debut win in the Desert X Prix double-header.
Andretti Altawkilat Extreme E’s Catie Munnings will be the sole British driver taking part and will be aiming for a strong performance at her home event.
Munnings will have two bites at the cherry for victory in Scotland, as the season three calendar has doubled from five to 10 rounds, with all race weekends serving as double-headers — showcasing twice the action for minimal additional carbon output.
The full driver lineup for the Hydro X Prix:
ABT CUPRA XE
Nasser Al-Attiyah (Qatar)
Klara Andersson (Sweden)
ACCIONA | SAINZ XE Team
Mattias Ekstrom (Sweden)
Laia Sanz (Spain)
Andretti ALTAWKILAT Extreme E
Timmy Hansen (Sweden)
Catie Munnings (UK)
Carl Cox Motorsport
Timo Scheider (Germany)
Christine GZ (Italy/Spain)
JBXE
Andreas Bakkerud (Norway)
Hedda Hosas (Norway)
NEOM McLaren Extreme E
Tanner Foust (US)
Emma Gilmour (New Zealand)
No. 99 GMC HUMMER EV Chip Ganassi Racing
R.J. Anderson (US)
Amanda Sorensen (US)
Rosberg X Racing
Johan Kristoffersson (Sweden)
Mikaela Ahlin-Kottulinsky (Sweden)
Veloce Racing
Kevin Hansen (Sweden)
Molly Taylor (Australia)
X44 Vida Carbon Racing
Fraser McConnell (Jamaica)
Cristina Gutierrez (Spain)