Supercharged by a coterie of celebrity team owners- including Tom Brady and Rafael Nadal- electric speed boat racing’s new E1 Series has exploded overnight into 1 of the world’s most riveting sport developments.
With only a Series A fundraising under its belt, the E1 Series- founded in 2020 by Motorsport veteran Alejandro Agag and managed by former McLaren Applied´s managing director Rodi Basso- has introduced a brand new flying electric raceboat- called the RaceBird- and has expanded its roster at record clip, already having incorporated eight official teams each piloted by a female and a male captain.
However, while the sport and its teams may be growing rapidly, it’s also clear that Basso is making sure that all the new teams in E1 are managed by proven stewards of sport and sustainability.
For instance, this weekend in Venice the E1 Series debuted its 9th official team. Led by Hollywood legend Will Smith, Team Westbrook (eponymously coined after Smith’s entertainment venture company) and finished 3rd with two internationally recognized superstar pilots- including Lucas Ordoñez- who entered professional racing from the virtual world as a GT Academy winner before racing at Le Mans five times- and Sara Price, professional racer and stuntwoman who has won 17 national motocross championships and competed in Extreme E, the X Games and the Dakar Rally.
For Smith, Team Westbrook, or Westbrook Racing (as emblazoned on the boats) will in fact be just the latest step in a series of bold initiatives the megastar has taken to drive the evolution of electric powered watercrafts. Smith, for instance, heavily invested in the Los Angeles-based startup Arc, which earlier in the year, launc
