Timmy Hansen, Marcelo Claure and Catie Munnings

The inaugural E1 World Championship starts with eight teams following the addition of Team Brazil owned by Marcelo Claure, a Bolivian-American tech entrepreneur. Sweden’s Timmy Hansen and UK’s Catie Munnings will drive for Team Brazil in the seven-event season, which starts in Jeddah, has five events in Europe from May to September, then concludes in Hong Kong in November.

Claure, 53, joins seven high-profile E1 team owners ranging from sportsmen Tom Brady (American football), Rafa Nadal (tennis), Virat Kohli (cricket), Sergio ‘Checo’ Perez (F1) and Didier Drogba (football) to entertainers Marc Anthony (singer and actor) and Steve Aoki (DJ and producer).

“I’m excited to be pat of this revolution in the world of powersports. E1 represents a move towards a more sustainable and innovative future, with greater commitment to environmental responsibility,” said Claure, owner of Bolivia’s Club Bolivar and co-owner of Spanish club Girona, and a co-founder of Inter Miami with David Beckham and Simon Fuller.

“I look forward to combining the passion Brazilians have for sports and the extensive reach of the E1 platform to catalyse the E1 mission to advance marine sustainability as well as to contribute to Brazil’s global sustainability discussions. I’m excited to have Team Brazil in this competition with our talented team of drivers.”

Emma Kimilainen, Tom Brady and Sam Coleman

The opening event of the UIM-sanctioned series from February 2-3 will be held in Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, home to both Aoki Racing pilots, Mashel Al Obaidan and Saud Ahmed.

Marc Anthony’s Team Miami, operated by the Dubai-based Victory Team, will be led by Sweden’s Erik Stark, a six-time powerboat world champion, and American Anna Glennon, a four-time US and four-time Canada jet ski champion and the only woman in IJSBA history to win the Men’s Classic Two-Stroke World Championship title.

Anna Glennon

“I’m proud to have Erik Stark and Anna Glennon as members of our E1 team,” Anthony said. “They both have impressive careers and an amazing work ethic. I’m proud of their achievements in the field and we’re more than ready to bring revolution to the water and offer the fans a show they’ve never seen before.” 

Emma Kimilainen (Finland) and Sam Coleman (UK) will drive for Team Brady, while Team Rafa’s pilots are Tom Chiape (France) and Cris Lazarraga (Spain).

Tom Chiape, Rafa Nadal and Cris Lazarraga

Vicky Piria (Italy) and Dani Clos (Spain) are the pilots for Sergio Perez’s Team Checo, Lisa Caussin Battaglia (Monaco) and Phelim Kavanagh (USA) line up for Virat Kohli’s Blue Rising, while Oban Duncan (UK) and Yousef Al Abdulrazzaq (Kuwait) race for Team Drogba.

E1 organisers announced that coverage of the championship will reach more than 500 million homes in over 150 markets. Broadcast and streaming partners include CBS Sports (US), ITV (UK), Tencent (China), PX Sports (Latin America), Supersport (Sub-Saharan Africa), Dubai Sports and Saudi Sports Channel Company (Middle East & North Africa).

www.e1series.com