Unitevi a Qatar 365: allacciatevi le cinture per percorrere giri veloci e vivere emozioni ad alta velocità sull'acqua. Il team va dietro le quinte del primo campionato mondiale di motonautica completamente elettrico, l'E1, e il Campionato del mondo endurance FIA.
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00:00Grazie a tutti.
00:30Grazie a tutti.
01:00Grazie a tutti.
02:00This is Team Alula's first season and the Doha GP is only its second ever race.
02:06But the other eight teams don't have too much of a head start as the E1 World Championship only launched last year.
02:12So everyone is still perfecting their racing strategies and figuring out how to optimize their battery-powered boats.
02:19Everybody is still learning a lot.
02:21But the progress from, of course, the first race in season one to here now in our second race of season two, there's a lot of changes and everybody is really picking it up in a hurry.
02:31But I think we've got such a good team that everybody is putting everything together perfectly and it's going quite well.
02:37We're going to be the ones to watch for sure.
02:39Unlike other racing championships like Formula One, E1 teams currently don't design their own boats or batteries.
02:45Rather, they all race in this same design, the race bird, inspired by birds in so-called glide mode when they fly really close above the surface of the water.
02:53And that position is the sweet spot that all teams are aiming for.
02:57They just all have their own thoughts and secrets on how best to achieve it.
03:02This foil is kind of what it's all about, isn't it?
03:05It is. Yeah, it all centers around this.
03:09So it essentially, if you imagine it like an airplane wing, so although it's emerged in water, it's the same principle.
03:15So as the boat gets faster, you have an area of low pressure and it lifts the boat water.
03:19So the faster you go, the more you lift up. And that's essentially how it works.
03:24The E1 isn't just about racing towards a sustainable future.
03:27It also champions gender equality for this generation and the next.
03:31I think the gender equality side is one of the biggest messages behind the championship.
03:35So each team has one male and one female driver.
03:38That's become normal to me, but in other racing series, it's not normal.
03:41And I think what we learned is that giving drivers, whether you're a female or a male,
03:45the same access to the testing, to the engineers, to the seat time,
03:49you see that the talent levels itself out between the males and the females quite equally in a sport like this.
03:54The weekend is coming to a close and Team Alula didn't quite get the result it was hoping for,
03:59as Team Rafa delivered its first ever win.
04:02But with a packed race calendar scheduled throughout the year, there's no time to dwell,
04:07as they all push forward to be crowned E1's kings and queens of the waves.
04:11The E1 championship is the brainchild of CEO and co-founder Roddy Basso.
04:20I sat down with the Italian former aerospace and racing engineer
04:24to talk about his move away from traditional motorsport
04:27and his drive to launch a thrilling new racing sport that's both fast and friendly to the planet.
04:36Roddy, you worked on your thesis at NASA and then went on to spend decades
04:41at the pinnacle of motorsport, the Formula One, and now your new venture is the E1.
04:46Can you tell us how did that idea of an electric powerboat racing championship come about?
04:52I worked two decades into the combination of high technology applied to sport.
04:59And I passionately believe in this combination
05:02because through the sport you can test new technologies, new solutions,
05:06which in few years can be applied on commercial products.
05:11And I have the strong feeling and the certainty that this can impact billions of people in the future.
05:18And I'm sure E1, with this exclusive license for 25 years for World Electric Powerboat Championship,
05:26given by the UIM, the Worldwide Federation of Powerboarding,
05:32has a great opportunity to accomplish this task.
05:35The races, the E1 races, take place all around the world in iconic cities like Venice, Monaco, Miami.
05:43So how important are scenic backdrops like the Pearl here in Doha to the championship success?
05:50We don't want to be perceived like the one going only in nice places like for a touristic reason.
05:57So we are in Monaco and Monaco is, you know, the capital of yachting, very interested in the future.
06:03We come in Doha where the yachting, I know that is coming very strongly
06:08and there is a strategic vision to make the Qatar the place to be and the port to be.
06:16We need to be where there is interest in the future of water mobility, connection to the water.
06:21All the E1 teams are owned by celebrities in the sporting or entertainment world.
06:26So what does it mean, this backing from these famous people or celebrities?
06:31What does it mean for the sport in terms of popularity and growth?
06:34They are people that jumped on board to the project because they love the purpose,
06:42the impact that they can provide through it.
06:44And you know that we have launched this year the Blue Impact Championship.
06:47So they need to contribute to the ESG awareness and solution through their teams
06:52and they will be put in competition.
06:54And they also are on board because they reckon this is a great business.
06:59And today I can tell you that the team license is the value.
07:04It's five times the initial value in the beginning of last year.
07:12From making waves in the water to revving up gears on the track,
07:17the FIA World Endurance Championship is back in Qatar for the second year in a row,
07:21opening its 13th season, a fitting start for what looks to be the most competitive year to date.
07:27While most people are more familiar with the Formula 1 format,
07:31the Endurance Series is a different beast altogether.
07:34And I'm here at the Lucille International Circuit to find out more.
07:41If Formula 1 is the 100-metre dash in athletics,
07:45the World Endurance Championship is a full marathon.
07:47Two classes of race cars, 36 entries on the grid, 108 drivers,
07:54and races that vary in duration from 6 hours to a whopping 24 hours.
08:01Drivers compete in either the LMGT3 class,
08:04which works more or less like a road car,
08:06or the hyper car, known for its sleek, aerodynamic build.
08:10The Qatar Curtain Racer is 335 laps and 10 hours of non-stop racing action.
08:18The teams have seven other races to compete in,
08:21with the climax undoubtedly being 24 hours at Le Mans in France,
08:25the longest race in the calendar.
08:27And that's why the World Endurance Championship
08:29is not only a test of innovation and engineering brilliance,
08:33it's also the embodiment of team spirit,
08:35determination and strategy in motorsport.
08:38Someone who has won four times at Lucille Circuit,
08:43but in a different vehicle,
08:44is nine-time MotoGP World Champion Valentino Rossi.
08:48He switched from two wheels to four in 2022 with Team WRT
08:52and has quickly adjusted to an entirely new format of racing.
08:56The braking and the line are similar,
09:01but with the motorcycle, the limit is more physical
09:03because you have to move more on the bike.
09:06and with the car, you are on the seat.
09:10With the car, you have a lot more grip because you have four wheels.
09:13So in the corner, you can go faster.
09:16You can go, you can have a better speed.
09:19One of Rossi's teammates is Ahmad Al-Harty.
09:22Hailing from Oman,
09:23Ahmad is the only Arab driver in the endurance line-up this season,
09:27which he hopes will help build the region's interest in the sport.
09:30means a lot.
09:32It's been a lot of hard work over the last 18-plus years
09:35doing so much in terms of trying to build myself,
09:38in terms of being a quick driver, hopefully, and a fast one.
09:41But more importantly,
09:42I really hope that this gives an opportunity
09:44for the younger drivers
09:45to really learn the right and correct path in motorsports.
09:50Ahmad gave me a tour around the team garage,
09:52and I had to ask him about the intensity of racing on the track for hours.
09:57It's never comfortable being in a race car,
09:59but it's as comfortable as possible.
10:01We're not in the car for more than,
10:04depending on the championship regulations,
10:07sometimes not exceeding two or three hours.
10:09So at least you get, it's a safety brake
10:11where you have to come out, freshen up,
10:13do what you need to do, and, you know, come back in the car.
10:17On top of an already crowded grid,
10:19this year also sees the most number of major auto manufacturers
10:22looking to steal the crown from defending champs Toyota Gazoo Racing.
10:28We won the manufacturer's title last year,
10:30which was a great achievement with all these manufacturers here.
10:33So, yeah, I mean, the aim is to at least keep that,
10:35which is not easy.
10:36We've seen many, many different challenges along the way,
10:39different technologies with the hybrid systems.
10:41It's made many manufacturers come back into the sport,
10:44and, yeah, we welcome it.
10:45It's very good for the work.
10:47Another initiative that's been good for the sport
10:50is the addition of the Iron Dames,
10:52the all-female team in the series.
10:55It's a very unique project that is supporting females in sports in general,
11:00and the idea from Deborah, who is the founder of the project,
11:03was that she wanted to show that females can compete
11:06on the same level as men,
11:08on the highest level of motorsport, endurance,
11:11sprint racing, single-seater, whatever,
11:12and I really believe that we have achieved that with the project,
11:16that we can compete on the highest level.
11:19with so much competition, innovation,
11:22and big names in the sport,
11:23it's clear that there's a lot more gas in the tank
11:26than there's ever been in the World Endurance Championship,
11:30giving motorsport fans excitement through every checkered flag.
11:37From racing on the water in electric powerboats
11:40to witnessing the sheer determination of endurance drivers
11:43and their hypercars,
11:44we hope you've enjoyed this thrilling episode.
11:47but that's all the time we have for now.
11:49For more, check out euronews.com
11:51and connect with us through our hashtag.
11:53Thanks for watching,
11:54and we'll see you next time on Qatar 365.