Sébastien Loeb will not be returning to Lewis Hamilton’s X44 team for the upcoming Extreme E season, relinquishing his spot as the reigning champion. In his place, DirtFish driver Fraser McConnell will step up to partner with Cristina Gutiérrez, who continues with the team for another season.
McConnell, who previously served as the series’ ‘championship driver’ before securing a race seat with JBXE last season, brings his experience as the 2019 Americas Rallycross champion and Nitro Rallycross event winner to the table. He expressed his excitement about joining the championship-winning team and looks forward to collaborating with Gutiérrez, aiming to absorb knowledge from her seasoned background. Meanwhile, Loeb, focusing on his World Rally-Raid Championship commitments with Bahrain Raid Xtreme, hinted at scaling back his racing activities for the year.
Under new management by Rodin Carlin, X44 Carbon Vida Racing sees a shift from its previous Prodrive affiliation. Loeb’s departure marks the latest in a series of driver changes ahead of Season 3, with other notable moves including Timo Scheider and Christine Giampaoli Zonca joining Carl Cox Motorsport and Chip Ganassi Racing unveiling a fresh full-season lineup featuring Amanda Sorensen and RJ Anderson.