INSIGHT EXTREME E

WHY EXTREME E’S EQUALITY

STANCE IS NECESSARY

The rules of the new electric SUV off-road series require teams to field one male and one female driver. Here’s why the move is more important than it may seem

JAMES NEWBOLD

D

uring the online launch for the new all-electric SUV off-road Extreme E series, which mandates a fifty-fifty split between male and female participants, Chip Ganassi Racing’s long-serving general manager Mike Hull was asked a pertinent question. What was the response to his team hiring a female driver, Sara Price, for the first time in its storied 30-year history?

“Sara has proven that she can win and that has nothing to do with gender,” Hull replied. “She knows how to win and she’ll represent Extreme E and the global significance of what we’re trying to do as a winning race driver, who happens to be female.”

The brainchild of Alejandro Agag, XE is the latest avenue to offer female drivers a platform to showcase their skills. Unlike W Series, however, they will be pitched head-to-head against their male counterparts, and in equal equipment. While high-profile drivers such as Sebastien Loeb (X44), Carlos Sainz Sr (Acciona) and Mattias Ekstrom (Abt) have tended to hog the

38 AUTOSPORT.COM 7 JANUARY 2021