The NEOM McLaren Extreme E team has revealed its new driver line-up for the 2024 Extreme E Championship season today. This new duo, consisting of Cristina Gutiérrez and Mattias Ekström, marks their third season in Extreme E.
Cristina Gutiérrez has accumulated impressive achievements. Off to a great start, she finished at the top of the female category in the Spanish All-Terrain Rally Championship for six consecutive years and secured second place in the mixed category. Her breakthrough came in the 2017 Dakar Rally, where she became the first Spanish woman to finish this competition. Repeating this success in 2018 and 2019, she reached a new level in 2021 by becoming the second woman to win a stage. That same year, she was crowned champion of the FIA Crosscountry Rally's T3 category, becoming the first woman to achieve this. In 2022, she finished in third place and in January 2024 she made history by becoming the second woman to win the Dakar Rally, and the first to win in the T3 Challenger category.
On the other hand, Mattias Ekström, from Sweden, brings an impressive record spanning continents and championships. With two titles in DTM (2004 and 2007), FIA World Rallycross Champion in 2016, the first PURE ETCR champion, and a four-time winner of the Race of Champions (2006, 2007, 2009, and 2023), Ekström has demonstrated his versatility and skill in various motor racing disciplines, including WRC, NASCAR, Dakar Rally, and V8 Supercars.
In Extreme E, he started his journey in the inaugural season with the ABT CUPRA XE team. He returned to the series in 2023, achieving two victories and six podiums, and finishing as the runner-up in 2023 for the ACCIONA | SAINZ XE Team.
The Season 4 of Extreme E will mark the team's third campaign in the electric off-road championship. Over the last two years, the team has competed with Emma Gilmour and Tanner Foust, achieving two podiums during that time. The NEOM McLaren Extreme E team finished the 2023 season in eighth place, with 68 points.
This new duo of Gutiérrez and Ekström promises to be an exciting and potentially successful combination for the NEOM McLaren Extreme E team, looking to improve their performance in the upcoming season. The experience and track record of success of both drivers suggest that the team could be in a strong position to compete for top spots in the 2024 season.
