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Seven weeks before the season opener in Saudi Arabia, ABT CUPRA XE has set the course for its third season in Extreme E: Rising star Klara Andersson will compete alongside the now five-time Dakar winner Nasser Al-Attiyah. The CUPRA Tavascan XE, with which the pair sensationally won the season finale in Uruguay in December, will receive a spectacular new design. Already this weekend, fans and media will experience Klara Andersson in the new car at the Race of Champions in Sweden.
“The fantastic season finale with the triumph of Klara and Nasser makes you want more – that’s also why it was clear to us that we would continue our involvement in Extreme E. I am particularly pleased that together with CUPRA we now form an electrifying team in both Formula E and Extreme E,” says Hans-Jürgen Abt, CEO of ABT SE. The goals are clearly defined: “After a learning year and a season with the first successes, we always want to fight for victories in 2023 and ultimately also race for the title.”
While Nasser Al-Attiyah, who won the famous Dakar Rally for the fifth time a fortnight ago, is entering his second full season with ABT CUPRA, Klara Andersson is moving from being a substitute driver to becoming a permanent team member. The 22-year-old Swede already made a strong impression in her two appearances at the end of last season with a podium finish, a victory and many spirited manoeuvres. “I am happy about the trust of the crew, CUPRA and the whole team,” says Andersson. “Nasser and I were already on the same wavelength during our first weekends and also had a lot of fun – it’s nice that we now have the whole season ahead of us.”
The new season sees the team’s car sporting an updated livery to match the team’s Formula E car, UrbanRebel and CUPRA e-Racer: a multi-layered and chameleon-like body colour that combines a deep purple and neon yellow. The all-electric off-road racer hints at the design language of the future Tavascan production car, the brand’s second all-electric model, which is being developed in Barcelona and will be launched in Europe and overseas in 2024.
“The Extreme E organisers are doing a lot to develop the series on and off the track. We are looking forward to playing our part in the future,” says Thomas Biermaier, Team Principal and CEO of ABT Sportsline. “After two years full of ups and downs, we now want to be consistently at the top. With Klara and Nasser, we have the ideal team on board. Anyone who has ever seen the two of them together on the track knows how concentrated they are and how much fun they have working together. I am sure that we will see this spirit in good results.”
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