Munnings and Åhlin-Kottulinsky star in support series

Catie Munnings might have arrived in Hell with one prior RX2e start under her belt – at Höljes last season – but that paled into insignificance compared to the experience of most of her rivals in the high-calibre field, and she had zero prior knowledge of the undulating and demanding Lånkebanen circuit.

Just over a second shy of the outright pace in practice, the Brit – competing for Hansen Motorsport junior outfit #YellowSquad – got off to a challenging start in heat one with a late spin, but she was on course for a top five time in heat two until a small mistake cost her a position.

Undeterred, Munnings made a textbook launch from pole position in heat three and held her nerve to lead into the first corner. Despite coming under sustained pressure from local specialist Ole Henry Steinsholt – who had finished runner-up in his only previous RX2e appearance – she refused to buckle, staving the Norwegian off to the chequered flag to take the race win and secure the third-best time overall, leaving her fifth in the overnight classification.

“That was incredible!” the 25-year-old enthused. “Competing on asphalt is pretty new for me, to be honest – I’ve probably been karting just three times in my life! Coming here was a real challenge in that respect and I wasn’t completely comfortable in the morning.

“I certainly felt the pressure in that last race. I could feel the other guys right on my rear bumper, and beating them has definitely given me a bit of a confidence boost. I’m so stoked – what a mega end to the day!”

One spot ahead of Munnings in the intermediate classification is Mikaela Åhlin-Kottulinsky, who produced a brilliant run in heat one to go third-quickest – behind only last season’s top two championship finishers Viktor Vranckx and Isak Sjökvist, and faster than Team E stablemate Nils Andersson – before backing that up with the fourth-best time in heat two.

The Swede was denied a fair shot in the last race of the day after being innocently caught up in a start-line clash between Vranckx, Andersson and Sjökvist, but she nonetheless holds fourth position going into the final day of competition.

Similarly making her RX2e debut, reigning Extreme E Champion Cristina Gutiérrez is sixth, having impressively kept pace with countryman and series regular Pablo Suárez in the opening heat before adding a pair of top five times to her tally in heats two and three.

Fellow Dakar history-maker Laia Sanz was less fortunate, with a brace of DNFs rooting her to the bottom of the table, but she has a chance to fight back in heat four tomorrow (Sunday) before the semi-finals and final, with all of the action day-long to be broadcast live on RX+. Monthly and annual subscriptions can be purchased here.