Jamaican rallycross sensation Fraser McConnell and his X44 Vida Carbon Racing Team topped the podium in round 8 of the Extreme E Championships in Sardinia, Italy, on Sunday.
Starting for the team, Fraser McConnell took a wide line into the first turn to sweep past Johan Kristoffersson and Sebastien Loeb as that pair squabbled for real estate in the center of the track.
McConnell’s clean start proved to be decisive as Team X44 remained unchallenged throughout the round, with teammate Cristina Gutierrez bringing the car home 5.813s clear of Mikaela Ahlin-Kottulinsky after taking the wheel at the mid-race driver change.
This marks the team’s second victory of Season 3 and first victory at an Island X Prix.
The 25-year-old McConnell was satisfied with the team’s performance, “It’s amazing to get a result like this. Cristina and I had our heads down and drove four strong, clean laps in the final. We did everything possible to extract some advantage and find some little tricks to help us go faster than the rest. As always, the team worked tirelessly to ensure the car was in tip-top shape.”
Formed by seven-time Formula 1 World Champion Lewis Hamilton, X44 Vida Carbon Racing is currently fifth in the standings with 87 points. Extreme E concludes with the final leg in Antofagasta, Chile, on December 2 & 3.
“The Championship is so competitive with so many world-class drivers, so to put Lewis Hamilton’s team on the top step for round 8 is an amazing feeling. We’re going into Chile with our heads high and hoping for more”, McConnell concluded.
Fraser McConnell: Flying the Jamaican flag high
At just 25 years old, McConnell is already the most competitively successful Jamaican driver in the history of international rallycross racing. He had his career debut in 2018, competing in North America’s ARX2 series. In his first race, McConnell recorded the fastest-out-of-the-box time, and ultimately reached the final four times out of five.
His championship victory in the 2019 Americas RallyCross Championship marked the first and only championship win by a Jamaican driver in the series’ history. In 2021, McConnell became the first and only Jamaican to claim a supercar victory in the Rally X Nordic league.
Earlier this year, in February 2023, McConnell won his second qualifying event in Calgary, Canada, at Stampede Park. A month later, he announced he was joining X44 Vida Carbon Racing, the Extreme E Team founded by mega-famous, seven-time Formula One World Champion, Sir Lewis Hamilton.
McConnell’s history-making efforts have been recognized by Jamaica’s Prime Minister Andrew Holness, and Usain Bolt, among others.
At the end of his 2021 season, he was nominated for the being nominated for the RJR/Gleaner Sports Foundation Male Motor Sport Athlete of the Year, Sportsman of the Year and People’s Choice Awards.
