Extreme H car impresses at Goodwood FOS

One year on from the final Extreme E race, its successor Extreme H made the public debut of its new race car at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.

Much like how Extreme E’s Odyssey 21 was introduced to the world with a run up the famous hillclimb in 2019, the hydrogen-powered Pioneer 25 took to the Duke of Richmond’s driveway at this year’s festival.

The car has been involved in an intensive testing program for the last two years, but as well as being seen by outsiders for the first time, three Extreme E veterans got their first taste of the car as well.

Cristina Gutierrez, 2022 Extreme E champion with Lewis Hamilton’s X44 outfit, got behind the wheel on Friday, with Extreme E’s youngest race winner Klara Andersson driving on Saturday, and Amanda Sorensen – who raced for Chip Ganassi Racing and Jenson Button’s JBXE – getting a turn on Sunday.

Several drivers, including Timmy and Kevin Hansen, Hedda Hosaas, Molly Taylor, and Catie Munnings (who gave the Pioneer 25 its first public run at the Festival on Thursday) have already tested the car behind closed doors in France and Scotland, but for the trio at Goodwood, their first runs came in front of 150,000 onlookers.

“The experience of the Goodwood hillclimb was amazing,” said Gutierrez. “I know how legendary this hillclimb is and I was enjoying each meter. The atmosphere and all the spectators watching you doing the run is amazing, and I will remember for my life.

“I think that being able to show the car after so much effort on the part of Spark and Extreme H is a success, and we take into account that it has been at the largest and most important motor festival in the world and this is where all the effort really has its reward because thousands and thousands of people can see all the work that has been done and above all see that it has been a success and that the car is the future.

“It is really admirable that there are people who think about the future to make cars with this technology and thus be able to improve for the next generations so very happy to have had the opportunity to drive this car, and for the first time put it on stage in front of the whole world.”

Toby Whales

Running at Goodwood, though, meant that the car was out of its comfort zone. The drivers, too.

“I feel like it caught me by surprise, because it's my first time driving it on the asphalt,” said Sorensen. “You can actually feel the power down to the ground from each tire, just because it has each drivetrain as its own motor – that was very cool.

“You could tell that there was so much power, not just coming from like the car as a whole, but you can feel it coming from each tire.

While it was Sorensen’s first run, and in a place unlike where it will race, it still allowed her to gauge how it compared to its predecessor.

“All of the new upgrades have been very ideal for wheel-to-wheel action on the track, even just changing driver position allowing us drivers more visibility," she said. “Obviously, the terrain is a lot different to what we're used to with driving in these cars – it was cool to see how it performed on asphalt. You were able to slide it around a little bit, brake late – it has very good grip, so it was super good driving.

“The controllability is way better than the E car. I feel like there's a lot of improvements going into this car versus the E car, and I'm looking forward to driving this one and actually competitively racing it.”

Anderson, concurred with Sorensen, highlighting that the asphalt hillclimb, while not what the car was built for, was a good environment to get a feel for what it was capable of.

“What a place to do my debut in the Extreme H car,” she said. “I could really feel the suspension moving and the braking, and I think it handled very well.

“I'm very impressed by the work from Spark. I can really realize now what the other drivers that I've been speaking to have been on about, because the car is really well built. For sure, the Extreme E car was good as well, but this feels like the next level with everything. So I'm really intrigued now to really see what it can do on a race course.”

The Extreme H World Cup will run in the fall, with an announcement of dates and a location coming soon once final contracts and FIA approvals are in place. RACER understands that eight teams are set to take part, with two drivers in each.