Extreme E has released new figures outlining the level to which its female drivers improved relative to their male counterparts in the second season of the all-electric offroad series.
Extreme E is unique in that each team must run both a male and female driver – with both sharing driving duties of a single car, switching places midway through each race – and Extreme E’s annual Sustainability report, released today, shows that that there was a 26 percent improvement in performance of the female drivers compared to the series’ first year.
The difference between the male and female median times across Season 1 (2021) was 9.7 percent at its highest point (the Island X Prix in Sardinia), with a season average difference of 5.8 percent.
However, last year that season-long average dropped to 4.5 percent, with the biggest gap being at the season-opening Desert X Prix in Saudi Arabia (6.3 percent), and remaining in a window of 1.5 percent for the rest of the season.
Further highlighting the increase in performance of the female drivers was Cristina Gutierrez, who set the fastest overall lap time in the Copper X Prix in Chile, which helped her and X44 teammate Sebastien Loeb secure the title.
Cristina Gutierrez (left) was fastest overall in Chile last year. Charly Lopez/Motorsport Images
“We feel incredibly proud to see the performance gap between males and females close by almost a third in just two seasons, proving beyond doubt that this gender equal sporting format is creating genuine sporting impact for female drivers,” said series founder and CEO Alejandro Agag.
On the environmental side, a key focus of Extreme E, the report also confirmed that it has remained completely carbon neutral, and reiterates that last year’s season finale was powered by completely renewable energy.
The Energy X Prix in Uruguay (pictured top) was the world’s first zero emissions motorsport event thanks to the use of on-site solar panels and hydrogen fuel cells to power all event infrastructure, including the charging of the race cars.
The event set the blueprint for future events, with the series increasing its investment in renewable solutions as part of its plans for an entirely sustainable future.
Extreme E has already increased the capacity of the hydrogen fuel cell it uses to power events as well as planning to introduce a microgrid system that will combine the hydrogen with solar and wind power to help with its pledge to continue to use 100 percent renewable energy.
“The Report illustrates how Extreme E is leading the way as an action-based test bed for innovation and progress beyond the series,” said Agag. “We have once again consistently achieved the lowest carbon footprint in motorsport in front of a TV audience which grew by 30 percent – reaching 135 million viewers during Season 2 and continuing to grow its circle of influence.”
