انضموا إلى Qatar 365 خلال استعداده لمتابعة اللفات الخاطفة على المضمار والسرعات العالية على المياه.
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00:00مما خلال بسطورة تستخدم مدد من جديد أسزال Jakarta
00:08وديم شعورة بجتعله تدرس و ترجمة نشران من المستدرون
00:13كم الأس المهادر أننا ستكلم بمسكرا لأسفلات السيارة
00:16فلسف الآن قد تكون الوقت قد تستخدمها
00:18تستخدمي طريق لأسفلها
00:21موسيقى
00:51There's a new racing championship in town, and it's as spectacular as it is sustainable.
01:01The world's first electric race boat championship, the E1 series, has docked on the Pearl Island for the Visit Katar Doha Grand Prix, and Team Alula is ready to make some waves.
01:13E1 is a brand new electric motorsport, and it's helping drive sustainable marine mobility,
01:18whilst kind of pushing the boundaries of electric motorsport.
01:22And it's super exciting because these are the first kind of foiling boats of their type, electric foiling boats.
01:27So, yeah, we're really pushing the boundaries in a lot of different ways.
01:30What's really interesting about it is it's brought this mix of people together, from power boating, from sailing, from Formula One, from Formula E, into this unique championship.
01:41And we're all trying to figure out what's the best way to make these race birds fly, to go as fast as possible.
01:48Owned by NBA legend Lebron James, Team Alula are the new kids on the block.
01:53The latest to join E1's star-studded paddock of teams with A-list owners like Tom Brady, Will Smith, and Rafael Nadal.
02:01This 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.
02:18Everybody is still learning a lot, but 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.
02:36We're going to be ones to watch, for sure.
02:38Unlike other racing championships, like Formula One, E1 teams currently don't design their own boats or batteries.
02:44Rather, 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.
02:52And that position is the sweet spot that all teams are aiming for.
02:56They just all have their own thoughts and secrets on how best to achieve it.
03:00This foil is kind of what it's all about, isn't it?
03:04It is, yeah. It all centers around this.
03:07So it essentially, if you imagine it like an airplane wing, so although it's emerged in water, it's the same principle.
03:14So 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 will lift up, and that's essentially how it works.
03:23The E1 isn't just about racing towards a sustainable future.
03:26It 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.
03:37That's become normal to me, but in other racing series, it's not normal.
03:40And I think what we learned is that giving drivers, whether you're a female or a male, the same access to the testing, to the engineers, to the seat time,
03:48you see that the talent levels itself out between the males and the females quite equally in a sport like this.
03:53The weekend is coming to a close, and Team Alula didn't quite get the result it was hoping for, as Team Rafa delivered its first ever win.
04:02But with a packed race calendar scheduled throughout the year, there's no time to dwell, as they all push forward to be crowned E1's kings and queens of the waves.
04:12The E1 championship is the brainchild of CEO and co-founder Roddy Basso.
04:19I sat down with the Italian former aerospace and racing engineer to talk about his move away from traditional motorsport and his drive to launch a thrilling new racing sport that's both fast and friendly to the planet.
04:33Roddy, you worked on your thesis at NASA and then went on to spend decades at 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.
04:58And I passionately believe in this combination because through the sport you can test new technologies, new solutions, which in few years can be applied on commercial products.
05:10And 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, given by the UIM, the Worldwide Federation of Powerboarding, has a great opportunity to accomplish this task.
05:34The races, the E1 races take place all around the world in iconic cities like Venice, Monaco, Miami.
05:42So how important are scenic backdrops like the Pearl here in Doha to the championship success?
05:49We don't want to be perceived like the one going only in nice places like for a touristic reason.
05:55So we are in Monaco and Monaco is, you know, the capital of yachting, very interested in the future.
06:02We come in Doha where the yachting, I know that is coming very strongly and there is a strategic vision to make the Qatar the place to be and the port to be.
06:15We need to be where there is interest in the future of water mobility, connection to the water.
06:20All the E1 teams are owned by celebrities in the sporting or entertainment world.
06:25So what does it mean, this backing from these famous people or celebrities?
06:30What 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, the impact that they can provide through it.
06:43And 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 and they will be put in competition.
06:53And they also are on board because they reckon this is a great business.
06:58And today I can tell you that the team license is the value is 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, the FIA World Endurance Championship is back in Qatar for the second year in a row, opening its 13th season.
07:23A fitting start for what looks to be the most competitive year to date.
07:27While most people are more familiar with the Formula One format, the Endurance Series is a different beast altogether.
07:34And I'm here at the Lusail International Circuit to find out more.
07:38If Formula One is the 100 metre dash in athletics, the World Endurance Championship is a full marathon.
07:48Two classes of race cars, 36 entries on the grid, 108 drivers and races that vary in duration from six hours to a whopping 24 hours.
08:00Drivers compete in either the LMGT3 class, which 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, with the climax undoubtedly being 24 hours at Le Mans in France, the longest race in the calendar.
08:26And that's why the World Endurance Championship is not only a test of innovation and engineering brilliance,
08:32it's also the embodiment of team spirit, determination and strategy in motorsport.
08:38Someone who has won four times at Lusail Circuit, but in a different vehicle, is nine-time MotoGP World Champion Valentino Rossi.
08:48He switched from two wheels to four in 2022 with Team WRT and has quickly adjusted to an entirely new format of racing.
08:56The braking and the line are similar, but you know, with the motorcycle, the limit is more physical because you have to move more on the bike.
09:06And with the car, you are on the seat. With the car, you have a lot more grip because you have four wheels.
09:13So in the corner, you can go faster. You can have a better speed.
09:18One of Rossi's teammates is Ahmad Alharti. Hailing from Oman, Ahmad is the only Arab driver in the endurance line-up this season,
09:26which he hopes will help build the region's interest in the sport.
09:30It means a lot. It's been a lot of hard work over the last 18-plus years doing so much in terms of trying to build myself,
09:37in terms of being a quick driver, hopefully, and a fast one.
09:40But more importantly, I really hope that this gives an opportunity for the younger drivers to really learn the right and correct path in motorsports.
09:49Ahmad gave me a tour around the team garage, and 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, but it's as comfortable as possible.
10:00We're not in the car for more than, depending on the championship regulations, sometimes not exceeding two or three hours.
10:08So at least it's a safety brake where you have to come out, freshen up, do what you need to do, and come back in the car.
10:16On top of an already crowded grid, this year also sees the most number of major auto manufacturers looking to steal the crown from defending champs Toyota Gazoo Racing.
10:27We won the manufacturer's title last year, which was a great achievement with all these manufacturers here.
10:32So, yeah, I mean, the aim is to at least keep that, which is not easy.
10:36We've seen many, many different challenges along the way, different technologies with the hybrid systems.
10:41It's made many manufacturers come back into the sport, and, yeah, we welcome it. It's very good for the work.
10:47Another initiative that's been good for the sport is the addition of the Iron Dames, the all-female team in the series.
10:54It's a very unique project that is supporting females in sports in general.
10:59And the idea from Deborah, who is the founder of the project, was that she wanted to show that females can compete on the same level as men,
11:07on the highest level of motorsport, endurance, sprint racing, single seater, whatever.
11:12And I really believe that we have achieved that with the project, that we can compete on the highest level.
11:19With so much competition, innovation, and big names in the sport, it's clear that there's a lot more gas in the tank than there's ever been in the World and Orange Championship,
11:29giving motorsport fans excitement through every checkered flag.
11:33From racing on the water in electric power boats, to witnessing the sheer determination of endurance drivers and their hypercars,
11:44we hope you've enjoyed this thrilling episode.
11:46But that's all the time we have for now.
11:48For more, check out Euronews.com and connect with us through our hashtag.
11:52Thanks for watching, and we'll see you next time on Qatar 365.