Old coal mine at Glenmuckloch to host Extreme E off-road rally

An old coal mine in southern Scotland is to host an electric off-road rally.

The Extreme E series will hold its Hydro X Prix at Glenmuckloch in Dumfries and Galloway on 13 and 14 May.

It will provide the "perfect natural amphitheatre" for the event which has teams backed by Lewis Hamilton, Nico Rosberg and Jenson Button.

Previous sites to have hosted the series have included Greenland, the Atacama Desert, Saudi Arabia and Senegal.

Now in its third season, the off-road rally series focuses on the promotion of electric vehicles and clean energy innovations.

The old opencast mine is seen as an ideal location, with its plans for a pumped storage hydropower plant and wind farm.

Ali Russell from Extreme E said: "It's probably the craziest location we have ever gone for, it has got such a wonderful story.

"What's special about this coal mine is that it has a second life - and that second life is all about hydro."

He said the drivers had looked at the course and thought it would be "really challenging".

"It's a lot of fun, there's a lot of jeopardy, it is wheel-to-wheel racing and it is cars driving at the same time which makes it very, very unique," he said.

"It is like an off-road version of Formula One but electric, zero emission racing."

Extreme E also prides itself on being a gender-equal motorsport platform, which sees men and women drivers race equally for success.

British driver Catie Munnings, of the Andretti Altawkilat team, explained why they were coming to the south of Scotland.

"Extreme E is an all electric, off-road SUV championship where we are racing in the most remote locations on Earth with the aim of raising awareness about some of the issues that those locations are facing with climate change," she said.

"It is a really cool place for us to be racing.

"Racing in what was a coal mine that is going to be repurposed into a hydro plant has got such a powerful message."

Jenson Button, JBXE team owner, said it would be great to try out the new venue.

"There is such a passion for motorsport in the UK, and it is great that the series is returning to its roots once again," he said.

"Racing in Scotland will provide a totally new challenge for our team, but I am confident we will be able to kick-start our season there."

Anna Fergusson, estate director of Buccleuch's Queensberry Estate which is home of Glenmuckloch, said hosting the race was a "wonderful opportunity" for the area.

"We were approached by Extreme E who were looking for a base in Scotland to tie in with their values on environment and community," she said.

"We are literally only an hour south of Glasgow and Edinburgh - but it is great to get us on the map in such a positive way."

As part of the legacy programme of the event Extreme E is backing a community project in the area to help protect salmon stocks.

It also takes steps to keep its carbon footprint to a minimum including capping the number of team personnel and staff at the event and not having spectators on site.

However, all the action will be shown live on television over the weekend.