Team Brady Wins First E1 Event

In Saudi Arabia, Tom Brady’s two pilots won the opening leg of the E1 Jeddah GP, where Marc Anthony’s Team Miami also impressed.

On Feb. 3, 2024 Team Brady pilots Sam Coleman of the UK and Emma Kimiläinen of Finland celebrated victory at the two-day E1 Jeddah GP, the opening round of this year’s UIM E1 World Championship, the world’s first all-electric raceboat series.

Team Miami’s Anna Glennon and Erik Stark topped qualifying on the opening day before finishing second in the Super Final, with Rafa Nadal’s Team Rafa (Cris Lazarraga and Tom Chiappe) and Virat Kohli’s Team Blue Rising (Lisa Battaglia and Phelim Kavanagh) finishing third and fourth respectively.

Finland’s Kimiläinen, who has been racing cars since 2005, said: “We’ve already had a message through from Tom [Brady] and he’s super happy with the win. Both Sam and I are so incredibly proud to represent Tom and we’re pleased we were able to make history at E1’s inaugural race.”

Rodi Basso, co-founder and CEO of E1, added: “Huge congratulations to Team Brady for taking home the first ever E1 trophy. The past two days of competition have surpassed all expectations and the passion, commitment and spirit shown by all the team pilots has been incredible.”

Although Brady, Rafa Nadal, Virat Kohli and Sergio Perez weren’t present in Jeddah, the event did attract four of the eight celebrity team owners. Singer Marc Anthony (Team Miami), football icon Didier Drogba (Team Drogba), DJ Steve Aoki (Aoki Racing Team) and tech entrepreneur Marcelo Claure (Team Brazil) were all present to support their teams in the groundbreaking event.

The eight teams battled it out under the Jeddah sunshine in high-octane racing, with speeds of over 50 knots (92kph/57mph) captivating fans. In qualifying on the opening day, Team Miami came out on top after Stark completed the course in 6 minutes 23.33 seconds, 10 seconds ahead of Team Rafa.

Marc Anthony said: “What an incredible first day in Jeddah and a tremendous performance by Anna and Erik to come out on top, beating stiff competition from Team Rafa. This sport has unbelievable potential.”

On day two, the top four teams competed in semi-finals then the Super Final, while the bottom four contested their own semi-finals before the Place Race to confirm positions five to eight.

In the Super Final, each pilot raced once, with the best time from each team determining their eventual position. Coleman, a four-time Powerboat P1 SuperStock world champion, came good with a time of 6 minutes 58.52 seconds, with Team Miami finishing 19 seconds behind and vowing to come good in the second leg of this year’s ‘Race to Hong Kong’.

“The last race was a little bit difficult for me. We’re here to win, but we finished second, so we’ll catch them in Venice,” said Stark, who won the F2 World Championship for four straight years before becoming an F1 driver.

Europe hosts the next five legs in Italy’s Venetian lagoon (May 11-12), Puerto Banus on Spain’s Costa Del Sol (June 1-2), Geneva, Switzerland (June 29-30), Monaco (July 26-27) and then Rotterdam (September 7-8) as the Dutch port city welcomes back the Racebirds after hosting a test event last September.

The 2024 tour concludes in Asia, with Hong Kong (November 9-10) signing up to host the season finale for the first three seasons.

Basso concluded: “E1 has firmly landed on the global sporting map, and our next stop in Venice is set to be another tremendous event.”

E1 World Championship 2024
After Leg 1; Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

www.e1series.com