After ending the year on the podium and coming within a penalty of winning our first race in Round 4, CEO Zak Brown says the bar has been raised for our Extreme E outfit, having exceeded expectations in 2022.

We made our Extreme E debut this year, joining for the second season of the electric off-road series and finishing fifth with 52 points and one podium. Drivers Emma Gilmour and Tanner Foust nearly clinched their first win in Chile the round prior before a penalty dropped us to fifth.

With Emma and Tanner signed up for a second season, and a year of learning under our belts, Zak was asked whether our aspirations would shift next year.

"I'd like to think we can compete for the championship," Zak said. "We won a race, but unfortunately, we had some penalty infringements. Those were driver-related, not technology or technical-related, which has happened to most teams and drivers.

"It was great to be competitive, and we've now raised our expectations. We know we can win and want to do it regularly. Tanner and Emma are great. It's cool that Emma is from New Zealand - we picked her because she was the best driver, but it is an added bonus that she happens to be from the same country as our founder, Bruce McLaren.

"Tanner's a hoot, as they would say in the States. He's brave, quite literally - you should see some of the stunts he's done. He's very well presented, he's a former presenter, and he's a world championship calibre driver. The two of them have been great to work with."

It was McLaren's first foray into the world of electric racing and rallying, and Zak talked up the abilities of those in the team and the way that they leaned into the knowledge of those with rallying or electric backgrounds, internally and externally.

The team were led by Sporting Director Mark Grain, whose career with McLaren has spanned more than 25 years and included roles within the Le Mans-winning project team, the Formula 1 team and the INDYCAR team.

Within Mark's team were 24 Hours of Le Mans-winning sisters Leena and Teena Gade, who are the Senior Principal, Race Engineer and Lead, Performance Engineer, respectively, and Crew Chief, Mark Paulin, who has off-road racing experience.

"It was very new to us," Zak continued. "We've got a great couple of technology partnerships that have helped to make us smarter at off-road racing because it was a discipline that we had never been around before.

"Extreme E was also a new championship, though, and so we felt we were only one year behind other teams in the knowledge curve because this was only the second season of Extreme E, not the 10th.

"It's really no different to racing because it is racing. You're still trying to beat the other nine, 10 vehicles. It's a different type of racing, that's for sure, but we've got a great team on it. Leena and Teena Gade are very experienced, they've won Le Mans, they've contested IndyCar, and they've done a great, great job.

"Ultimately, you've got to get the best drivers you can, and have the best equipment, crew and strategy. It's a lot of fun, but I went to a couple of the races, and when the lights go out, it feels like any other race. You're trying to beat that car right next to you."

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