Four-time Dakar Rally winner Nasser Al-Attiyah replaces Mattias Ekström at Abt-Cupra and becomes Jutta Kleinschmidt’s teammate in Extreme E in 2022
Abt-Cupra will change drivers in the 2022 Extreme E season. Instead of Mattias Ekström, Nasser Al-Attiyah will be the teammate of German Jutta Kleinschmidt in the electric SUV racing series this year. The announcement was made by Cupra on Thursday at a team presentation in Martorell, Spain.
This means that Abt-Cupra will be competing in the Extreme E in 2022 with a driver duo that can boast no less than five victories in the Dakar Rally. Kleinschmidt won the desert rally in 2001 as the only woman to date. Al-Attiyah celebrated his fourth overall victory in the “Dakar” in January 2022.
“I am very excited and believe that this will be a great experience for me. Extreme E is a step towards a better future,” said Al-Attiyah.
Kleinschmidt, who started the 2021 Extreme E season as the official reserve driver, had taken over the female driver position at Abt-Cupra from Claudia Hürtgen after two races. “Last year we had a solid base and tried to fight for the best positions. I think this year the challenge is to win; we are ready for that,” she says.’
The second season of Extreme E begins on 19 February 2022 at Neom in Saudi Arabia.
