They were already among the fastest teams on Sardinia in almost every session in July, but in the end still had to travel home without a trophy after plenty of bad luck – now Klara Andersson and Sébastien Loeb are attacking together once again: The reigning Extreme E champion and record world rally champion will return to the ABT CUPRA XE team and alongside the Swede for the second appearance of the series in Italy next weekend (16 and 17 September). Goal: a winner’s trophy.
“We are very happy that Seb is part of our team again,” says ABT CEO and Team Principal Thomas Biermaier.
“We are all having great fun working together, but at the same time it also feels a bit like ‘Unfinished Business’, because Klara and Seb were clearly among the candidates for victory in July with their strong performances. Now they get a second chance in the new edition in Sardinia, which they are determined to make the most of.”
Loeb is again standing in for five-time Dakar Rally winner Nasser Al-Attiyah, who contested the first two weekends in Saudi Arabia and Scotland.
The venue for the Island X Prix, which consists of two separate race days on Saturday and Sunday, is once again the NATO training area near Porto Pino in south-west Sardinia, as in the past two years and as in July. ABT CUPRA XE had recently experienced its best weekend in 2023 so far with a victory in the small final on Sunday and a narrowly missed podium finish the day before. In all sessions, Klara Andersson and Sébastien Loeb were among the fastest, but were robbed of the “big points” by bad luck and punctures through no fault of their own.
New and therefore unfamiliar to all the drivers is the layout of the track, which has again been modified. Each race thus consists of four laps, two per driver. The race days on Saturday and Sunday will start at 9:30 a.m. local time with qualifying, followed by the two final races from 4:15 p.m. onwards. A list of all the channels broadcasting the guest race in Italy can be found here: www.extreme-e.com.
Klara Andersson: “Track is fun, but unforgiving”
“I’m super excited to return to Sardinia with Seb by my side,” says Klara Andersson, who also competes in the World Rallycross Championship this year. “We put in a really strong performance last time, but punctures and some bad luck with the grid positions stood between us and the trophies. We are hungry to come back and will give everything to be successful.” Even though the layout is changed for the two rounds, Klara Andersson likes the location. “I like the track in Sardinia because it is fun, but also very unforgiving. The event in July showed that the surface suits both Seb and me very well.”
Sébastien Loeb: “Want to do better this time”
Sébastien Loeb is returning to the team after a surprise stint in July.
“It’s great to be back in Sardinia with ABT and CUPRA for two more races,” says the nine-time World Rally Champion. “I’m really looking forward to meeting Klara and the team again, because I have very good memories of the last time. We didn’t get the results we expected and probably deserved, so we’ll do our best to do better this time.”