INTERVIEW: Catie Munnings on Extreme H and debuting the Pioneer 25 at FOS

Her rise to stardom comes from following in the footsteps of her rally driver father, Chris. “There’s not a conventional way into motorsport, especially in rallying. I’ve probably been karting three times in my life,” she explained. “My dad opened up some rally schools when I was young. I just used to sit in the passenger seat next to him, and I was blown away by his talent and the speed of the car. So I think I caught the buzz for adrenaline early.

"I started competing when I was 14 and got some support to start my career, but it was always something where I just said ‘yes’ to every opportunity. It was never like me sitting down and thinking this is going to be a career.”

Munnings is now at the forefront of Extreme E and its hydrogen-powered successor, Extreme H, with its revolutionary Pioneer 25 Dakar Rally-style vehicle. “Extreme E was an electric off-road kind of buggy that we used to race in the most remote places in the world, like Greenland, the Saudi Arabian Desert, America, on the beach in Senegal,” she detailed. “A Championship that was trying to push the technology with electric mobility, but also it was focused on sustainability."

“A big scientific committee would travel around with us and do research in the different areas that we were racing. Professors from Oxford and Cambridge used to come with us and give us lectures as well on their findings there in the hope that we would share them with our audiences through motorsport. Then a lot of the funding went into local charities and research projects in the areas to kind of rehabilitate those areas.”

Her environmental passion, rooted in childhood dreams of becoming a vet, found synergy in Extreme E. “To have my two passions coming together, that was a win-win because suddenly I was exposed to the number one marine biologist in the world giving up his time to come and work alongside us.”

Extreme H pushes boundaries further with hydrogen technology. “It’s not really been done before in motorsport because of how reactive hydrogen is. We’ve been testing for two years and it’s been incredible to see that journey,” Munnings explained. “A lot of crash testing, a lot of protection added around the hydrogen fuel cells. So, we’ve got extra roll cages, extra steel plates, because it’s potentially highly combustible."

“The shape is different, the geometry is different, the centre of gravity is lower and wider, so that you have that stability in driving as well. You can put more load laterally without rolling across the desert. I’m excited about hydrogen. Electric has been tested a lot. It’s kind of been done now.

“But hydrogen is something not many championships, not many cars have played with, so to be one of the first ones testing that is cool. We’re not using hydrogen as a fuel in an engine, that’s kind of separate. We’re using it to power our electric motor. I don’t know if that will come in the future, but I’m excited.”

Munnings is a fierce advocate for gender parity, tackling the sport’s historical inaccessibility for women. “Extreme E made it a sporting format where you know the female result is going to affect your overall result,” she said.

“People don’t realise how inaccessible it is to practice and to train, and so to have testing days. Tens of thousands of Euros every day if you want to do it properly. So, it’s so inaccessible to try and get faster, and naturally there are not as many women at the top because they’re not coming through at the grassroots level.

“When Extreme E launched, it had a pool of drivers. The men were all at a similar level because there were so many men at the top. To pick females, the pool was harder because there weren’t so many of us with that much experience. And the fact that it was one result made the teams invest in developing female talent."

“Then we saw over the four seasons, women will outright beat the men in some races, and that wouldn’t have happened before. We didn’t have the seats, we didn’t have the access, and so we didn’t get the experience.”

Extreme H’s 50-50 format — where each team has one male and one female driver — has continued the investment in female talent, and Munnings believes visibility is key to inspiring the next generation. “Showing half the grid is female, I think that’s the first thing. With the academies and programmes coming through, it will at least let young girls know there is a chance for a career in motorsport.

“I think women naturally hold themselves back until they feel ready. It’s the same in all walks of life. You wait for a promotion until you feel overqualified to go for it. Whereas I think with men, they’re a little bit more ‘just go for it and figure it out later’. And that’s what I always do. I always just say yes to every opportunity that I get. And I had my dad telling me that he thought I had the talent to be there as well, which made a massive difference.”

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Goodwood photography by Tom Shaxson, Max Carter and Kirsty Jayne Russell.