The Extreme-E racing series brings world champions together. However, it’s not only the drivers who have to deliver top performance on ice, sand, earth, gravel and crushed stone; our CrossContact Extreme-E tires, which were specially designed for this racing series, are also called upon to do a lot of heavy-duty work.
Lewis Hamilton, Nico Rosberg, Jenson Button, Johan Kristoffersson – it reads like a Wikipedia article on the world’s best racing drivers, but it’s actually the lineup for the Extreme-E-Rennserie, which started in Saudi Arabia on April 3. In this off-road series of extremes, world-class drivers compete on five tour sections in specially developed electric SUVs from April to December. The demands on the drivers are extremely high, because they have to master the most challenging racetracks on a wide variety of terrain, including beaches, rainforests, deserts and the Arctic.
CrossContact Extreme E – a tire for extreme conditions
Lightning-fast acceleration, stronger torques, high speeds in tight corners, drifts and jumps present tires with probably the greatest challenge they’ve ever encountered in motorsport. Our solution is the racing tire we developed specifically for these extremes – the Continental CrossContact Extreme E, which was fitted to all the vehicles in the racing series. “It was a demanding challenge to develop a versatile tire that can master not only the terrain but also the vehicle in every conceivable situation – especially since its intended use is not normal driving but racing,” says Anuj Jain, who is responsible for the development of the CrossContact Extreme-E at Continental. With their 550 hp performance, the ODYSSEY 21 e-SUVs reach 100 km/h in 4.5 seconds, also thanks to the CrossContact Extreme-E.
The series model: the CrossContact
Even though this tire, with its 37 inch diameter, 12.5 inch width and 17 inch rim will never go on sale, your workshops can already have the high-end tire from mass production. “For the development of the Extreme-E tire, we first analyzed the maximum performance and durability of proven high-performance products of the latest design and then decided to use the Continental CrossContact series as a reference for the rest of the process,” explains Jain. “The technical challenge was then to adapt the profile, the sidewall and the construction to the different and very demanding terrains of the Extreme-E racetracks.”
All 2021 dates at a glance:
Al-Ula, Saudi Arabia – April 3/4
Dakar, Senegal – May 29/30
Kangerlussuaq, Greenland – August 28-29
Santarem, Brazil – October 23/24
Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego - 11./12.)
The races will be broadcast live on ProSieben MAXX and on our Livestream.
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