Very similar to its ties to rallycross, the overlap between Excessive E and rally raid is staggeringly excessive, and NEOM McLaren XE will double dip into the self-discipline for the 2024 season as they enlist the providers of Cristina Gutiérrez and Mattias Ekström.
Gutiérrez strikes over from X44, with whom she gained the 2022 championship alongside Sébastien Loeb (additionally a rally raid competitor). The staff’s title defence in 2023 got here with Gutiérrez and Fraser McConnell, who gained twice on the first Hydro X Prix and second Island X Prix II however completed fourth within the standings.
McLaren’s announcement comes on the heels of Gutiérrez profitable the 2024 Dakar Rally within the Challenger class, turning into simply the second girl to win a Dakar total after Jutta Kleinschmidt—herself an XE alumnus—in 2001. Gutiérrez was additionally the primary feminine champion of the FIA World Cup for Cross-Nation Rallies (predecessor to the present World Rally-Raid Championship) when she claimed the ultimate T3 title in 2021.
Ekström arrives at McLaren after ending twenty-sixth within the top-level Ultimate class on the Dakar. Regardless of his poor end, he gained a stage and helped Audi team-mate Carlos Sainz to the victory.
He was a part of one other rally raid-savvy duo at Sainz’s ACCIONA | Sainz XE Team through the 2023 season, pairing up with Laia Sanz whereas Sainz was out due to injury. The staff broke by way of for his or her finest marketing campaign thus far once they scored victories on the second Desert X Prix and first Island X Prix II, lacking out on the championship by fifteen factors.
“It’s nice to have the ability to share the information that Cristina and Mattias might be becoming a member of the staff for our third season in Excessive E,” stated McLaren Sporting Director Gary Paffett. “Each drivers have seen success and have confirmed monitor data in Excessive E, in addition to different classes of racing, and with their talent and willpower we’re excited to see what they will obtain this season.”
Gutiérrez and Ekström replace Emma Gilmour and Tanner Foust, who completed eighth within the 2023 standings with a finest end of second on the Hydro X Prix Race #2. McLaren débuted their XE programme in 2022 with a fifth-place championship end.
The 2024 season begins with the Desert X Prix on 17/18 February. Coincidentally, the race is held in Saudi Arabia just like the Dakar.
