- Carlos Sainz and Laia Sanz finished second in Qualifying day. This Wednesday they will be at the Starting Grid of Semi-Final 2.
- The ASXE Team set the second-fastest time overall in Qualifying 1 and won its heat in Qualifying 2.
The electric off-road vehicle of the ACCIONA | SAINZ XE Team will be at the starting grid of Semi-Final 2 in tomorrow’s Island X Prix, where it will fight for a spot in the Final.
The Spanish team set the second-fastest time overall in Qualifying 1 and comfortably won its heat in Qualifying 2, already showcasing its new livery on the Odyssey 21 and its new logo.
Carlos Sainz and Laia Sanz, therefore, scored 19 points out of 20, finishing the day in second place in the Qualifying standings.
Their rivals on Semi-Final 2 will be X44 and JBXE, who today finished third and sixth respectively.
The two first cars to cross the finish line will advance to the Final of the X Prix.
The first day of racing in Sardinia confirmed that ACCIONA | SAINZ XE Team is one of the strongest teams in the series at the moment, as it builds on the second place it achieved in the Final of the Desert X Prix, which was held in February near Neom, in Saudi Arabia.
One of the question marks of the day was discovering the performance of each team now that cars have changed their suspension and other technical elements that affect the series' speed, reliability and safety.
ACCIONA | SAINZ XE Team has adjusted well to those changes so far after months of hard work back at the factory and a test that the team did in Teruel a few weeks ago.
Quotes:
Carlos Sainz, driver:
"It was a good and positive day. We qualified in second place, and although Championship points are only given tomorrow, we can pick our starting position for the Semi-Final. This afternoon we won our heat in Qualifying 2 and we finished second overall in Qualifying. We are happy for now, but we must be cautious because the biggest task is still ahead".
Laia Sanz, driver:
"We are finally back in action with the first day of racing in Sardinia. Truth is everything turned out really well. Our pace was great in both sessions and we finished second in Qualifying by winning our heat in this afternoon’s session. We are optimistic ahead of tomorrow and want to continue working this way. I hope we do really well in the Semi-Final and that we are able to fight for a good result in the Final”.
Joan Orús, team principal:
"The pace that Carlos and Laia showed today was encouraging. There hasn’t been any racing for almost five months since Saudi Arabia’s Desert X Prix, but everything seems to indicate that we have carried the level we showed when we achieved that podium and that we have done a good job with the upgrades of the car. Tomorrow is an important day and we will give our best to fight for everything”.
