- The team aims for a podium finish and more points in the Ocean X Prix
- Carlos and Laia visited the Project EcoZone, which aims to build a sustainable and self-sufficient community
- This Friday is the shakedown and the competition will start on Saturday with the Qualifying sessions
ACCIONA | SAINZ XE Team has arrived at Lac Rose in Dakar (Senegal), home to the second round of the Extreme E Championship, the Ocean X Prix, which will take place on the 29th and the 30th of May.
The revolutionary off-road electric championship, which is driven by the preservation of the environment and gender equality, will focus its attention this time on the threats that both climate change and mankind pose on the oceans and the coastal communities.
Carlos Sainz and Laia Sanz will share driving duties behind the wheel of the Odyssey 21, just as they did in April in Saudi Arabia, where they finished in third place in the first semi-final. They were fourth overall in the X-Prix.
This weekend they will race in a tight and twisty track at a beach near Lac Rose, just 30 kilometres away from the capital city of Senegal, Dakar. The layout is more technical than the one of Saudi Arabia, with slower zones where the driving skill of the competitors will make the difference.
On Thursday, Carlos and Laia visited two local schools that are part of the Project EcoZone in the town of Niaga, where Extreme E supports an initiative to build a sustainable and self-sufficient community to reduce social and environmental vulnerability.
These two schools have taken part in the EcoBrique Challenge, which creates bricks for construction from plastic waste to reduce the plastic pollution that affects the coastline of the Atlantic Ocean. These bricks have already been used in major renovation works at two schools.
As part of the Legacy Programme, the commitment of Extreme E to leave an enduring ecological legacy at the ecosystems that compose the calendar of the series, the championship will plant one million mangroves in five different areas covering 60 hectares.
Mangroves are threatened as part of the situation of the oceans, which are in crisis. They play an important role in the life of coastal communities, acting as nurseries for fish and storing carbon. They also reduce flooding and erosion from storms.
The drivers of the ACCIONA | SAINZ XE Team arrived at Lac Rose around midday on Thursday, following the activities of the Legacy Programme. They have already done a track inspection and this Friday they will do a shakedown with the Odyssey 21 to check that all the systems work as they should ahead of the weekend.
Quotes
Carlos Sainz, driver:
"It is nice to return to Lac Rose and Dakar, this time at the wheel of an electric off-road car. I have been here before with the Dakar Rally, but I am happy that this time I am able to compete in this place as part of the Extreme E championship to try and raise awareness for the preservation of the environment. We have some solid reasons to have high expectations for this weekend because we were competitive in Saudi Arabia and both Laia and myself are feeling confident. The track is very technical. It is slower than the one in Al-Ula and we may see more opportunities for overtaking, so I am really looking forward to it".
Laia Sanz, driver:
"I am really looking forward to the Ocean X Prix. Ever since the event in Saudi Arabia I have been training on a daily basis. I have even done some rallyes to accelerate my learning phase on four wheels. I am feeling more comfortable and confident each time that I get behind the wheel and I am convinced that we can fight for a good result at Lac Rose. Even though in Al-Ula we narrowly missed the podium, we also saw that we have the potential to be up there. I really hope that this weekend we are able to take a step forward".
Albert Fàbrega, team principal:
"We are eager ahead of the second round of the championship, more so given that Dakar is such an iconic place for motorsport. We also want to highlight the different threats that this part of the world faces due to climate change and the erosion of the ocean and the coast. Lac Rose is a familiar place for our drivers. Our goal is to fight for a podium finish and to score more points for the championship, which is just getting started".
