Conti closes inaugural Extreme E season in exciting Dorset finale

Series tyre supplier demonstrates how the electric vehicle off-road racing series explores sustainability as Tyres & Accessories visits fifth and final event at Bovington Camp

Continental CrossContact Extreme E tyres in the pit lane

Arriving at Bovington Camp, a military base in Dorset, for the finale of the inaugural season of electric off-road series Extreme E, the lack of noise is the first indication that this is international motorsport done differently. When the nine fully electric 550bhp Odyssey 21 SUVs enter the arena, it is in large part to the sound of wet mud displaced by exclusive tyre supplier Continental’s Extreme E tyre, which is based on the German manufacturer’s CrossContact range. Primarily targeting a broadcast and internet audience, the teams, event staff, and small number of attendees on-site mingle under canvas, watching most of the action from the circuit unfold on big screens. During the races, teams complete the switch between the male and female drivers – another indicator of how Extreme E approaches motorsport differently – in front of this area.

Previous races have taken place in more remote locations, like the Arabian desert, on the sands of the Senegalese coast, and on the Russell Glacier in Arctic Greenland – with a more accessible stop at Capo Teulad in Sulcis-Iglesiente, an army training facility in Sardinia added when the series postponed its planned visit to Brazil. The series has toured the word aboard the St Helena, a cargo and passenger ship fully refurbished to transport the crew, cars and Extreme E equipment with a low environmental impact to every location – the St Helena also provides a lab and base for Scientific research, helping to increase the series’ reach beyond motorsport. Extreme E takes literally the often-cited use of motorsport as an opportunity for R&D.

Team founder Nico Rosberg talks to the broadcaster at the entrance to the pit lane

In addition to operating as a low-impact racing platform, Extreme E pursues legacy projects with local research and environmental groups in each location, such as a turtle conservation project on the coast of the Red Sea, planting a million Mangrove trees in Senegal, and initiating educational projects in Greenland. Tyres & Accessories visited the St Helena, docked in Poole, Dorset, and the Jurassic X Prix to speak with Continental’s Catarina Silva, team lead product management summer, 4×4 and van products, the team responsible for the development of the Conti tyre for Extreme E, and see why the series has attracted support from drivers who have competed at the pinnacle of global motorsport, such as Jenson Button (JBXE), Lewis Hamilton (X44), and Nico Rosberg (RXR), who all lead teams in the series, and who are interested in developing a sustainable future for motorsport after their successful F1 careers. Each also professes an interest in environmentalism outside motorsport, so the appeal of Extreme E is quickly apparent. Rosberg, whose RXR team went on to seal the series by the narrowest of margins on the Jurassic Coast over X44, also became a Continental brand manager in 2021, explaining that he is “proud to work with partners who put sustainability, technology and safety at the heart of what they do.”

Continental and Extreme E

As a founding partner of Extreme E, Continental’s involvement in the series supports its Vision 2030 strategy to become the most progressive tyre manufacturer. While not entirely unprecedented, getting involved in a global motorsport series represents an innovative step on Conti’s part – it does not have the sporting traditions of many of its premium brand rivals. Likewise, the off-road series does not play to Conti’s traditional strength of on-road car tyre performance, though its General Tire brand certainly does boast such a lineage. That said, many of Extreme E’s idiosyncratic features mesh well with the manufacturer’s future strategic direction. These include Conti’s product and business sustainability goals – it has a roadmap to reach 100 per cent sustainably produced materials in its tyre products by 2050 – and increased efforts to increase the prominence of a diversified workforce. The series’ commitment to operating in pioneering, innovative ways also delivers opportunities for Conti to differentiate itself as a premium brand.

In the racing itself, Continental’s brand has been added to the segment of the circuit formerly called the “Super Sector” – the Continental Traction Challenge offers the opportunity for the fastest driver of the weekend in this sector to gain five championship points for the team. Racing takes place in short bursts, meaning tyre management is not a factor in races; however, Catarina Silva notes that tyre pressures can be used to gain an advantage. Each Odyssey 21 is fitted with ContiPressureCheck technology to display tyre data to drivers, allowing them to adapt their driving style in different situations. Therefore the relevance of tyre condition to the racing continues to ensure interest in the rubber.

Conti’s CrossContact Extreme E tyre

The simple yet challenging tyre regulations of Extreme E embody sustainability by minimising the quantity of rubber required across the season. First of all, there was only one Continental CrossClimate Extreme E tyre developed to race in the wide variety of conditions on the very powerful, heavy Odyssey 21, whose torque is comparable to a rollercoaster pulling away. Secondly, each team was allocated one new set of tyres, plus two used tyres, per event – Conti therefore supplies around 60 tyres to each event. Conti product designer Nico Meier told T&A in July that this represented “the biggest challenge tyres have faced in motorsport” (click here for our full interview about the tyre development). Also considering the way the tyres are subjected to extreme accelerations, braking manoeuvres, cornering speeds, drift, and jumps in normal racing conditions, it is not difficult to see how he reached this conclusion. The challenge was increased by the conditions in which the tyres was developed. The Covid pandemic meant Conti’s product team was forced to adapt its process to new and evolving working conditions. The manufacturer responded to this challenge with a 37×12.5 R17 “very good compromise” according to tyre development engineer, Anuj Jain.

In Dorset, Catarina Silva tells T&A that over the course of the season she has been pleasantly “surprised by the performance of the tyre” her team was able to construct for the series, given the “brutal” challenges involved. While it is a difficult call for her to make, she says conditions in Greenland were the “toughest for the tyres due to the range of surfaces.” She adds that the tyre has “not seen gravel yet,” though the tyre was developed to handle this application. While the tyres are built for extreme purposes that take them into territory similarly different to SUV tyres to single-seater track slicks and regular car tyres, Conti is using the opportunity to develop its technologies that can be applied to consumer tyres, Silva adds. One area in which this is particularly relevant is the development of compounds, with both increased sustainability and trends towards electric vehicles and SUVs in mind.

Tyre development for future series of Extreme E is ongoing, with the first season supplying some useful experience and data. While details are not currently finalised, Silva hints that there are likely to be changes for next season.

The series seeks to improve female participation in motorsport – it hosted 40 girls of between 11 and 12 in association with Girls on Track UK

The composition of each of Extreme E’s nine teams’ driver rosters has also helped to emphasise the theme of diversity, with nine female and nine male competitors sharing the limelight. JBXE team driver (and Conti test driver) Mikaela Åhlin-Kottulinsky says that shared responsibility for delivering success at the “top level of motorsport” has helped to “normalise” the presence of women in this position, a development she hopes will have a knock-on effect in existing codes. Visiting the event, it is notable how far this normalisation has already progressed – female and male drivers are equally important to the team’s performance – and the broadcast coverage reflects this attitude. This is another area in which Conti’s strategy fits with Extreme E; the tyre manufacturer is targeting 25 per cent female management by 2025, supported by progressive measures such as flexible working, global networking and an annual Diversity Summit. Silva says that “the more diverse the team is, the better the discussion and solution.”

Such cultural shifts need strong roots to develop, a fact Extreme E addressed at the Jurassic X Prix with the Girls on Track UK initiative. 40 girls of 11 and 12 from the Dorset area were welcomed to the race site, introducing them to life in the championship and the opportunities available to them in motorsport. They sat in the cockpit of the Odyssey 21 and met several of the series’ female drivers, including Veloce Racing’s Jamie Chadwick, SEGI TV Chip Ganassi Racing’s Sara Price, and Åhlin-Kottulinsky. They were also set an innovative STEM coding challenge courtesy of Enovation Consulting, changed wheels against the clock in a pit-stop competition, and given a lesson in resuscitation skills by motorsport doctor Clare Morden, finishing with a viewing of Extreme E’s free practice session.

Veloce Racing’s Jamie Chadwick said: “As a Girls on Track UK ambassador, I am always so pleased to get involved with the events whenever I can. I am so incredibly lucky to be doing a job that I love and so to be able to inspire young girls that are thinking of coming into the industry one day is really important to me.”

Ali Russell, chief marketing officer at Extreme E, added: “Girls on Track UK is such an important initiative and one that perfectly aligns with Extreme E’s equality mission… As a series, we welcome and encourage females to join us in all aspects; from engineering to mechanics, design to media – and I think yesterday’s event was a great opportunity to open these schoolchildren’s eyes to the exciting future career possibilities that await them!”

The Odyssey 21 electric SUVs of Cristina Gutierrez/Sebastien Loeb (X44), Mikaela Ahlin-Kottulinsky/Kevin Hansen (JBXE), and Jamie Chadwick/Lance Woolridge (Veloce Racing) in action on 19 December at the Jurassic X-Prix (Photo by Alastair Staley / LAT Images)

The Tipping Point

Extreme E has gone to great lengths to ensure its environmental credentials, as befits a series based around battery-powered vehicles. The clean energy required to power the electric SUVs is generated on-site in a process used in racing for the first time, innovated by partner AFC Energy. The process uses electrolysers powered by a solar array to split hydrogen from oxygen in water, which is then used to power a generator, which supplies electricity to the cars and paddock, including broadcast applications and the small-scale hospitality.

The power chain is transported on board the St Helena in shipping containers, meaning the method can generate power from sustainable sources in remote locations. AFC Energy’s representatives told T&A that the series provides an excellent opportunity to put the system to the test in some challenging conditions.

The series also examined how the food waste generated at a race site could be converted into power; waste from the Jurassic X Prix was converted into 1000KWh of electricity, enough to power around 85 houses for a day, or approximately fully charge 18 Extreme E car battery packs. The event crew used food waste drying technology, supplied by organic waste solutions firm Tidy Planet. The end-product was then taken to local organic waste processor Eco Sustainable Solutions’ anaerobic digestion plant in Piddlehinton, where it was turned into biogas and converted into renewable energy.

Alongside operational challenges, the series has hosted a series of thought leadership talks called The Tipping Point. Hosted by Professor Lucy Woodall, principal scientist, Nekton, and Extreme E Scientific Committee member, the first talk concentrated on rewilding, with contributions by the National Trust’s David Brown, Julia Davies, founder of environmental fund and campaigner We Have the POWER, and Extreme E’s Francisco Oliveira. Another talk was hosted by Professor Richard Washington of the Extreme E Scientific Committee with Yadvinder Malhi CBE FRS, professor of Ecosystem Science at the University of Oxford, Dr. Matthew J. Bell, EY UK&I climate change and sustainability leader, and Prof Woodall discussing biodiversity.

Extreme E drivers assist in its Dorset biodiversity legacy project, creating a habitat for the reintroduction of beavers

Oliveira said: “We held two very interesting Tipping Point discussions – both very important and interconnected… It was amazing to be part of these Tipping Point discussions and to see people engaged and interested in our work. When we had the Q&A with Jenson Button, for instance, he was very clear on how much he has learned this year and found it amazing. This is something that I will never forget. If we can keep raising awareness of these issues across Extreme E and beyond, and have all of these people on board supporting us to tackle the climate crisis, it will have a huge impact.”

For its legacy programme, Extreme E is supporting the National Trust in improving biodiversity. In 2022, the organisation is hoping to reintroduce beavers to Purbeck, in the wetlands at the heart of the Studland’s dune system. Extreme E drivers assisted in building a lodge for the beavers to inhabit when they arrive from Scotland. Prof Woodall said: “There is an important message that meaningful long-term partnerships result in positive results for people and nature.”

Extreme E’s global transport vessel, the St Helena docked in Poole

Rosberg X Racing wins 1^st Extreme E

Rosberg X Racing and drivers Johan Kristoffersson and Molly Taylor became champions of the first-ever season of Extreme E, securing the title after finishing fourth in the Jurassic X Prix. The team ended level on 155 points with the X Prix’s winner and Continental Traction Challenge champion, Lewis Hamilton’s X44 team of Sébastien Loeb and Cristina Gutiérrez, but took the crown by virtue of more event victories – RXR won three of the five events.

Kristoffersson said: “It’s fantastic; this has been a new racing series, new team, and new locations but we’ve worked so hard to get here, and to be champions really feels amazing. Molly drove excellently today, managing the challenging conditions and I knew that all that remained for me was to not make any mistakes and bring the car home safely. We’re delighted to be champions and look forward to celebrating with the team.”

Taylor added: “This season has been brutal, racing in some of the most remote parts of the world in truly extreme conditions but we’ve worked together as a team and we’re delighted with this result. The nerves were definitely there today but Johan and I kept our eyes on the final prize, and the whole team effort across many months has brought us to this point today.”

Nico Rosberg, RXR founder and CEO, concluded: “We are so delighted to be crowned the inaugural Extreme E Champions and I am really proud of the entire RXR team. The team has worked so hard all season and performed consistently, racing in some of the world’s most remote locations. To be Champions is such an honour.

“A massive congratulations to our drivers, Molly Taylor and Johan Kristoffersson, who have been excellent all season. We came into Extreme E to raise awareness of climate change, and promote sustainability, but also as a racing team, we want to win and so we will remember this feeling forever.”

Alejandro Agag, founder and CEO of Extreme E, said: “We are really happy with the first Extreme E season. It has not been easy in the middle of a pandemic, but we have delivered five X Prix events, and the Finale in Dorset produced some spectacular racing. Since our first event in Saudi Arabia we have had a lot of eventful and incredible moments ending in a brilliant title decider today.

“I must say congratulations to RXR – they did a great job in winning the first ever Extreme E Championship. I must also say well done to X44 who were the victors at the Jurassic X Prix today and really deserved the win after being the fastest qualifiers at every X Prix this season. We are now looking forward to what we hope will be a fantastic Season 2.”

The Jurassic X Prix and Extreme E events are available to view on the series’ website.

Rosberg X Racing celebrate becoming the inaugural champions of Extreme E