Extreme E announces male-female driver partnership rule

The electric off-road race series, due to launch in January 2021, will feature two-lap races in which both driver and co-driver must complete one lap each behind the wheel of the Odyssey 21 electric SUV racing cars. All teams will field identical cars with matching tyres so the podium places will be determined by the skill and strategy of the driver pairings.

The five-race series is due to launch in Senegal in January 2021, followed by rounds in Saudi Arabia, Nepal, Greenland and Brazil with two month breaks between each.

Why so long between race meetings? Well Extreme E is taking steps to reduce the carbon footprint of its globetrotting by recommissioning an ex-Royal Mail cargo carrier, the RMS Helena, to ship the cars around rather than fly them from race to race.

Extreme E’s many praiseworthy ambitions have some serious backing with Adrian Newey being one of its principal visionaries and a scientific steering committee of Oxbridge academics.

Want to get a feel for Extreme E? Why not ride onboard an Odyssey 21 with Ken Block?