British squad secures its third podium in a row with a win in Round 3 at the Hydro X Prix

E.ON Next Veloce Racing took its first victory of Extreme E Season 4, as the championship returned to Scotland for a Hydro X Prix double-header. The London-based squad claimed its fourth ever win in the all-electric series, and its third podium of the 2024 campaign, following two third-place finishes at the season-opening Desert X Prix.

Kevin Hansen and Molly Taylor carried their dominant form into Round 3, setting the tone for E.ON Next Veloce Racing's weekend by topping the leaderboard in both Friday's Free Practice and Saturday's main event. Leading from start to finish in Round 3, the team finds itself at the top of the championship leaderboard by five points, having entered the weekend in third position.

In the first racing action of the day, a great start from Taylor launched her to the front of the pack through the opening corner, before contact from SUN Minimeal Team's Timo Scheider sent the Australian into a spin and into fourth place. Taylor recovered well, soon overtaking LEGACY M.C.'s Patrick O'Donovan and reeling in the front two on her way to the Switch Zone.

Following the driver change, Hansen set off in pursuit of JBXE's Andreas Bakkerud. With half a lap left, the Swede pulled off the overtake on the inside line, holding his ground through the next two corners to secure second place, before a 10-second penalty for Scheider and SUN Minimeal promoted E.ON Next Veloce Racing into the top spot.

Another battle would ensue between Hansen and Bakkerud in Qualifying 2, with the Norwegian gaining the upper hand in the opening corners of the Heat 1 race. Following multiple attempts and plenty of contact between the two, Hansen locked in the overtake and took the lead in the closing stages of the first lap.

Hansen handed over a seven-second lead to teammate Taylor, who produced a confident drive to take the win, despite a 5-second penalty due to Hansen missing a Waypoint following contact with Bakkerud. After two dominant performances, which earned the team two extra championship points for the Heat wins, top Qualifiers E.ON Next Veloce Racing prepared the #5 ODYSSEY 21 for the Grand Final.

In the all-important Final it was down to Taylor once more to nail the start for the team, and she launched into the lead out of Turn 2. Holding the advantage for her two-lap stint, Taylor handed over to Hansen who kept a cool head for his run to cross the line in first place.

E.ON Next Veloce Racing secures its third podium from as many events, and will be looking to continue that streak in tomorrow's Round 4 action. First place honours, along with two Heat wins and the quickest Continental Traction Challenge time, marks a perfect score for the British outfit on home soil.

Molly Taylor, E.ON Next Veloce Racing, said: "We've just finished Round 3 in Scotland and it feels great to take the win. It has been a really close battle all day, the pace has been really high from the other teams but Kevin and I managed to have a clean sweep today which is excellent for the championship points. The team did a great job. We progressed a lot throughout the day as we take on every little lesson and little boost that we can. The adrenaline is still high and we'll be riding that momentum into tomorrow."

Kevin Hansen, E.ON Next Veloce Racing, said: "What a day! In our first race we had to work really hard for it after an unlucky start, and again in the second race we had to do some overtaking to get through to the front, but that is where we really showed our pace.

"In the Final, Molly [Taylor] secured a mega start to get the lead, which made my life a lot easier. From there we both just tried to manage the race and manage the gap to the ACCIONA | SAINZ XE Team behind. All of last year I ended up starting in the Finals, so to actually cross the finish line to win today was an amazing feeling, and hopefully we can do the same tomorrow."

Daniel Bailey, CEO of Veloce, added: “What an amazing start to the Hydro X Prix for us all at E.ON Next Veloce Racing. To take the top spot in every session today and come away with the victory for Round 3 in Scotland is an amazing achievement and I could not be prouder of the team.

"We’ve shown a lot of consistency in our pace today and the hard work we’ve put in has paid off. The points we’ve earned in this round are crucial for our fight in the championship and it shows the other teams that we are here to fight. We need to take these learnings into tomorrow, where we’ve got the opportunity to do it all again."

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