The opening round of the new Extreme E season held a familiar winner in reigning champions RXR, but for David Henderson the Snetterton Stages round of the Motorsport News Circuit Rally Championship brought a maiden triumph alongside Sion Cunniff.

Here’s our review on the weekend’s action:

Extreme E – Desert X-Prix, Saudi Arabia

Mikaela Ahlin-Kottunlinsky and Johan Kristofferson steered RXR to victory in the Desert X-Prix, kicking off RXR’s title defence in perfect fashion on the sands of Neom, Saudi Arabia.

It proved to be a final of two halves; initially, ACCIONA | Sainz led from X44 and RXR, but an attempted pass by Tanner Foust on McLaren XE’s debut pitched the ODYSSEY 21 into a roll.

After a red flag and the ensuing restart, Kristofferson was on a charge in the RXR challenger, passing X44’s Cristina Gutierrez on the inside before taking a wide line through the penultimate corner to get the better of Sainz and claim a dramatic win, with X44 third.

“It feels really good, but every week feels good,” said Kristofferson after the Final.

“Every time we go for a race, we have the aim to win, but the competition is so high this year, especially with McLaren coming in, which raises the bar even higher.

“We learned quite a lot last year, but now things are even tighter, we’ll have to work even harder. I’m just very happy to start off the season with maximum points.”

The season continues with the Island X-Prix in Sardinia, Italy on 07-08 May 2022.

Motorsport News Circuit Rally Championship – Snetterton Stages Rally

David Henderson claimed a maiden victory alongside Sion Cunniff on a Storm Eunice-battered weekend at Snetterton that also saw Neil Roskell put one hand on the Motorsport News Circuit Rally Championship title.

Henderson (Ford Fiesta R5) was quickest out of the blocks to establish an early 15-second lead out front, with Roskell (Fiesta R5) happy to play second-fiddle ahead of his chief title rival Barry Morris (Darrian GTR), third after the opening two stages.

Morris hit drama in Stage 3, however, with a large stone hitting the external master switch and cutting his engine during the infield section; after over two minutes stationary, his chances of closing the gap to Roskell were all but gone.

Henderson continued to enjoy a strong run at the top of the timesheets, despite a downpour throwing tyre selections for Stage 5 into chaos. The eventual winning margin was over a minute and a half, with Roskell satisfied with second after extending his points lead.

The series heads next to Donington Park, Leicestershire, on 13 March 2022.