Reigning Extreme E Champion Rosberg X Racing has announced its driver line-up for the second season in Extreme E.
Johan Kristoffersson, who has completed the inaugural season with RXR and will continue to drive for the German squad, is joined by Mikaela Åhlin-Kottulinsky as his teammate for season two. The all-Swedish driver line-up will have their first outing together at the Desert X Prix on 19th February 2022.
Prior to joining RXR, Åhlin-Kottulinsky competed for JBXE, driving alongside Jenson Button and later Kevin Hansen and claiming third place in the first-ever Extreme E Championship round.
The 29-year old comes from a motorsport family with her grandfather, German-Swedish rally driver Freddy Kottulinsky, winning the Paris-Dakar Rally in 1980, while her mother Susanne Kottulinsky was Sweden’s leading female rally driver in the 1980s and 1990s. Both Mikaela’s father and brother are equally passionate and successful motorsport drivers. Mikaela first drifted a car on ice at the age of ten and has remained an avid lover of the rally discipline ever since.
Starting her career with Rallycross, she then moved on to the circuit to become the first woman to win a race in the German Scirocco R-Cup in 2014. Only four years later she made history with a race win in the Scandinavian Touring Car Championship as the first female driver to ever compete in the series. In 2021, she was the first woman to finish on the podium claiming P2 in the STCC Championship. In 2019, she was appointed test driver for Extreme E’s founding partner Continental, helping to develop the CrossContact tyre for the ODYSSEY 21 before joining JBXE in 2021.
Mikaela Åhlin-Kottulinsky commented: “I am incredibly honoured and excited to join RXR and support the team in defending their Championship title. To have the chance to work with the winning team from season 1 is truly a great opportunity, and I can’t wait to get started! I’m really looking forward to working and learning from Nico and Johan, two world champions and drivers that I have huge respect for and admire for their incredible record behind the wheel. What really strikes me about Rosberg X Racing is their commitment to the cause of Extreme E. Apart from the track action, I am particularly looking forward to becoming involved in the Driven by Purpose Campaign, which aims to support initiatives and projects for climate awareness, and equality. It’s a fantastic opportunity and will be an epic season.”
Johan Kristoffersson said: “I am very happy to continue my work with RXR. We have had a sensational first season together and I am confident that we can build on this experience and become even better. I am feeling relaxed, full of energy and eager to win again. Having Mikaela on my side is an extra motivation. She is a very gifted driver and being compatriots with many common experiences, I am sure we will get along just great.”
Rosberg X Racing Founder and CEO Nico Rosberg said: “We are happy to have found the perfect driver line-up for our second season in Extreme E. This year is going to be even more challenging as we have to defend our title against a growing field of very professional and highly determined teams. With the experience and track record of both Johan and Mikaela, we will be prepared for the battle and hopefully make for some exciting action on track. I can’t wait for the starting signal a couple of weeks from now.”
The second season of Extreme E will begin in Neom, Saudi Arabia on 19th February 2022, marking the first X Prix in a five-event schedule.