ACCIONA | Sainz XE Team will not join Extreme H, but their lineage will continue as ZEROID QEV Motorsport. The team is run by Sainz sponsor QEV Technologies, who previously developed the ZEROID X1 and FC1-X rallycross cars. Fraser McConnell returns as one of the drivers alongside Gray Leadbetter.

After finishing fourth in the 2023 Extreme E standings with X44, McConnell joined ACCIONA | Sainz for the 2024 season. He and Laia Sanz won the second Desert X Prix and were second in points prior to XE’s shutdown. McConnell was also Extreme E’s reserve driver in 2022.

Outside of XE, his main focus is in rallycross. The Jamaican finished runner-up in the 2023–24 Nitrocross Group E standings with three wins.

“Gray and I will both be learning fast with the new car, but I’m confident we can find the pace to fight at the front,” said McConnell. “To be part of the first hydrogen racing championship is an honor.”

Leadbetter is the 2022 Championship Off-Road Pro SPEC champion, the first woman to win a Pro race and class in the series. She has sporadically continued to race in COR since, primarily in SxS and Pro Lite.

She debuted in Extreme E in 2024, racing for Legacy Motor Club. The team was sixth in points when the season was stopped.

“Fraser and I have often battled each other, so teaming up for the first hydrogen series is going to be a blast,” the American commented. “This feels like the start of something really big for motorsport.”

QEV Technlogies was responsible for electric and hybrid rallycross vehicles like Nitrocross’ FC1-X and ZEROID X1 used in World RX’s RX2e. The company was also a partner of NEXTEV TCF who won the inaugural Formula E title in 2014.

ACCIONA | Sainz, owned by Carlos Sainz, will participate in the Extreme E Final Lap with McConnell and Leadbetter before transitioning to ZEROID QEV Motorsport for the inaugural Extreme H event a week after.

Featured image credit: QEV Technologies