Friday and Saturday marked the beginning of the inaugural season of the first-ever electric boat racing league, with the first eight teams in the UIM E1 Championship Series participating in races held across the Red Sea in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Marc Anthony’s Team Miami secured pole position heading into Saturday’s race, joined by two other well-known names on the podium. Here are the final E1 results.
It’s been a multi-year journey for the UIM E1 Series and its founders, and we at Electrek have been covering the nascent league every step of the way. We naturally tuned into Saturday’s electric boat racing rounds, broadcast live from Jeddah on CBS Sports Network.
Friday’s qualifying races consisted of time trials to determine pole position for the semi-finals, with Marc Anthony’s Team Miami clocking the fastest time and gaining one point towards their season total for the championship in Hong Kong.
On the following day, the eight initial E1 teams participated in two separate semi-final rounds of four, each racing twice (one male pilot and one female pilot). The combined points of each team determined the top two teams in each semi-final that advanced to the Super Final, vying for a spot on the podium and maximum points towards the championship.
The Super Final was run twice, allowing both pilots on each team a chance to compete, with one championship bonus point awarded to the team with the fastest overall lap. The bottom four teams still competed in the “place race” for remaining points, following a specified point system based on the results for each E1 GP event.
E1’s first GP results in Team Brady taking 1st, Rafa 2nd
The E1’s first-ever Super Final saw some teams from prominent owners competing, including Team Brady, Team Rafa, Team Miami, and Blue Rising, owned by Cricket star Virat Kohli.
After the first Super Final race, Team Rafa had the lead, followed by Team Miami and Team Brady. The second Super Final race saw a lot more back and forth, as some spray blocked Team Rafa pilot Cris Lazarraga’s view, causing her to cut a corner, resulting in a penalty in which the team had to choose between a 30-second penalty or an additional “long lap” (usually only one per race required).
With the top team penalized, Team Brady took the lead and held it in race two. Combined with pilot Emma Kimilainen’s third place in race one, Sam Coleman led Tom Brady’s team to first place in the first E1 GP.
Here are the current UIM E1 Championship standings following the Jeddah GP results:
- Team Brady – 20 points
- Team Miami – 17 points
- Team Rafa – 14 points
- Team Blue Rising – 10 points
- Sergio Perez E1 Team – 8 points
- Team Drogba – 5 points
- Aoki Racing Team – 3 points
- Team Brazil – 1 point
The next E1 GP will take place in Venice, Italy, on May 11-12.
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