BEST START
The ACCIONA team concludes the inaugural Extreme E 2023 with a second-place finish in Saturday’s first race and the win in Sunday’s race.
LEADERSHIP
The Spanish team finishes tied at the top of the championship with 46 points
MESSAGE
This initial Desert X Prix has raised awareness of the impact of desertification and waste in the Red Sea coast
NEOM (SAUDI ARABIA), MARCH 12nd, 2023. The ACCIONA | SAINZ XE Team completed the most brilliant result of its career in Extreme E with the victory in the second round of the Desert X Prix. The ACCIONA team achieved its first triumph in an Extreme E event and the first time that a Spanish team reached the top of the podium in the electric off-road competition.
Mattias Ekström and Laia Sanz dominated the Grand Final, under the watchful eye of Carlos Sainz, who collected the trophy for the winning team. The title represents the reward for more than two years of continuous growth for a team that today aspires to fight for the championship.
The 25 points obtained today, added to the 21 from yesterday’s race, in which the ACCIONA | SAINZ XE Team finished second, put them at the top of the series, tied on 46 points with Veloce.
ACCIONA | SAINZ XE Team’s victory confirms its growth and that its members have the potential to fight for victories and the Extreme E championship. The next round is the Hydro X Prix, to be held in Scotland on May 13th and 14th.
LEGACY AND AWARENESS
As in each of the championship races, the Desert X Prix sponsored by NEOM, the first 100% technological and emission-free urban development that will use desalinated water as well as solar and wind power, has sought to raise awareness among spectators of climate change’s impact.
The race took place on a racetrack along the Red Sea coastline, which made it possible to highlight the consequences of desertification and the impact of waste on the coastal ecosystem.
This first event’s Legacy program has focused on the revitalization of native wildlife and plant life. The teams went to the NEOM Nature Reserve and collaborated on the return to the wild of several vulnerable species, such as oryx, red-necked ostriches and sand gazelles. These protected species have been bred in captivity for more than a century.
ACCIONA IN SAUDI ARABIA
With a population of 35.34 million, Saudi Arabia is the third most water-consuming country in the world. As part of its Vision 2030 program, the Saudi government aims to reduce its water consumption by 43% by the end of the decade.
ACCIONA is contributing to this goal by building four reverse osmosis desalination plants in the country, using the most efficient technology with the lowest carbon footprint. ACCIONA is applying this technology to what will be the world’s largest desalination plant, Al Khobar 2, located in the city of Dhahran.