Kiwi driver Emma Gilmour has been denied the victory in the final Extreme E race in Chile over the weekend, after the NEOM McLaren Extreme E team copped a series of penalties.
Things were looking up for the driver pairing of Gilmour and Tanner Foust after they won Sunday’s Crazy Race, earning them the fifth spot on the grid for the Final Race.
However, the team was faced with a number of penalties – which are generally brought about by missing checkpoints – saw them finish down in fifth.
“It was actually a really amazing weekend, so many positives,” Gilmour said.
“The whole team has shown stuff that we have worked on over the first three rounds. We’ve really shown how much we’ve grown as a team, how strong we are and how competitive we are.
“Really happy with our efforts and it’s a shame we had a few penalties in the Final. Overall, really positive.”
Extreme E now heads to Punta Del Este, Uruguay for the Energy X Prix on November 26 to 27.
Gilmour and Foust currently sit fifth in the championship standings with 34 points.
Final Race Report:
Sebastian Loeb took the lead for X44 Vida Carbon Racing in the opening corners, while behind Foust muscled through the field to put NEOM McLaren Extreme E in second.
As the race went on, Foust was putting more and more pressure on Loeb out in front.
The American threw everything he had into a left-hander, passing Loeb while sideways to put NEOM McLaren Extreme E at the front of the pack as the teams neared their driver change.
The fight for the win fell to Gilmour and Cristina Gutiérrez, and the Spaniard made clever use of her ENOWA Hyperdrive to steal the lead for X44 Vida Carbon Racing early on in their first lap.
They pulled away from the rest of the field while going wheel-to-wheel with Gilmour passing down the inside of Gutiérrez to cross the line in first.
However, penalties for the NEOM McLaren Extreme E team saw both Foust and Gilmour finish in fifth place while Loeb and Gutiérrez finished first.
