The British leg of the flagship series of single-seater inshore circuit Formula 1 powerboat racing – the UIM F1H2O World Championship Grand Prix of London – was today launched in the heart of London.
The spectacular, high-octane event will be held at East London’s historic Royal Victoria Dock for the first time since 1985 on 15-17 June 2018. The UIM F1H2O World Championship Grand Prix of London will offer spectators a breathtakingly up-close and personal opportunity to watch the lightweight, tunnel-hull catamaran powerboats battling each other into turns at over 90mph and hitting speeds of up to 140mph on the straights.
A photo call and press conference were held for the world’s media in the shadow of London’s iconic Tower Bridge. Those involved. included: Marit Stromoy (NOR), the Emirates Racing Team driver and the first woman to ever win a Formula 1 powerboat Grand Prix; Philippe Chiappe (FRA), CTIC F1 Powerboat China Team driver and three-time world champion; Mr. Li Haojie, UIM F1 Committee member and Chairman of Tian Rong Sports, the local promoter of the Grand Prix of London in association with H2O Racing; Jules Chappell OBE, Managing Director, Business at London & Partners, the Mayor of London’s official agency promoting London internationally as a leading world city in which to invest, work, study and visit; Nicolo di San Germano, President of H2O Racing, the promoter of the UIM F1H2O World Championship; and Joanna Jones, Commercial Director of London Tech Week, Europe’s largest festival of technology and innovation.
Mr. Li Haojie, Chairman of Tian Rong Sports, commented: “As a Chinese company, we are honoured and delighted to stage the UIM F1H2O World Championship Grand Prix of London for the first time. We believe that this event, which echoes China’s ‘Belt and Road’ initiative, will constitute a highly positive effect on London’s international status, as well as East London’s development.”
Nicolo di San Germano, commented: “The UK has a longstanding association and love affair with powerboat racing, so for us it was a natural decision to add London to the exclusive UIM F1H2O World Championship calendar. London’s track record of not only hosting internationally renowned sporting events, but also its unrivalled success creating legacies for these sports was a major attraction. We believe the UIM F1H2O World Championship Grand Prix of London will help to further expand the World Championship’s global fan base, and we’re excited to give London’s spectators a unique and thrilling experience.”
Laura Citron, CEO at London & Partners, the Mayor of London’s official promotional agency for the city, said: “From the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games to the IAAF Summer of World Athletics in 2017, London has proved it excels at hosting great sporting events, and really can put on a show. It is fantastic to welcome UIM Formula 1 World Championship powerboat racing back after 33 years, and we look forward to welcoming visitors from all over the world for what will no doubt be a thrilling event.”
The UIM F1H2O World Championship Grand Prix of London will be staged at Royal Victoria Dock from Friday 15 until Sunday 17 June 2018. On Friday the F1H2O powerboats will have a free practice session. On Saturday qualifying will see the 10 F1H2O teams battling the clock and vying for pole position. While on Sunday afternoon racing will get underway following an hour’s free practice session and a parade lap.
As well as watching 10 teams battle for the F1H2O Grand Prix of London title; spectators will also be treated to nine teams competing in the Formula 4-S class, in which the sport’s up-and-coming drivers learn to hone their skills. While Formula 4-S powerboats have less powerful engines (60bhp) than those in F1H2O, they still manage to reach speeds of over 70mph. There will also be demonstrations over the course of the weekend from historical powerboats; jet skis; a 14-metre, five-tonne, V12 Class 1 offshore powerboat, which will hit a straight-line speed of up to 100mph; and junior, entry-level powerboats piloted by the next generation of British talent.
General tickets and VIP tickets (which include a range of hospitality packages) are available for the UIM F1H2O World Championship Grand Prix of London. For further information, general enquiries about the UIM F1H2O World Championship Grand Prix of London, and details of how your business can be part of the UIM F1H2O World Championship Grand Prix of London please visit www.f1h2o.co.uk. Alternatively, you can contact Mark Thomas at F1H2OLondonService@hotmail.com.
The UIM F1H2O World Championship Grand Prix of London will be part of the headline event programme at this year’s London Tech Week, Europe’s largest festival of technology and innovation, with a range of events held across the city from 11-17 June 2018.
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UIM F1H2O World Championship Grand Prix of London Key Messages
- The British leg of the 2018 UIM F1H2O World Championship – the UIM F1H2O World Championship Grand Prix of London – will be held at East London’s historic Royal Victoria Dock on 15-17 June. Practice sessions are scheduled for Friday; qualifying will take place on Saturday; while race day is scheduled for Sunday afternoon.
- This will be the fourth time that the UIM Formula 1 World Powerboat Championship has been staged in London, and the first time since 1985.
- The UIM F1H2O World Championship is the ‘flagship’ international series of single-seater inshore circuit Formula 1 Powerboat Racing, and during 2018 will be contested by nine teams and 20 drivers from 12 countries (Australia, China, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Sweden, UAE and USA).
- The UIM F1H2O World Championship Grand Prix of London will return to East London – a bridgehead of the “Belt and Road Initiative” – after 33 years, promoting the development of East London, Sino-British trade, and the cultural exchanges of countries along the route.
- During 2018 teams will compete at three Grands Prix in Europe: Portimao, Portugal (18-20 May); London, UK (15-17 June); and Evian, France (29 June-1 July); three Grands Prix in Asia: Xiangyang, China (September – exact date TBC); and Shanghai, China (1-2 October); GP TBA (22-24 November); and two Grands Prix in the Middle East: Abu Dhabi, UAE (6-8 December); and Sharjah, UAE (13-15 December).
- The UIM F1H2O World Championship attracts the world’s leading drivers, who navigate the lightweight, twin-sponson, tunnel-hull catamarans into turns at over 90mph, creating as much force as six Gs, and top 140mph on the straights.
- The Formula 1 class at the UIM F1H2O World Championship Grand Prix of London will be supported by the F4-S Trophy Championship, which has been the support class since 2011.
- Technological advances, particularly in the design, composition and aerodynamics of the Formula 1 boats, is ultimately responsible for the continued growth and development of the sport. As such, the UIM F1H2O World Championship Grand Prix of London will be part of the headline event programme at this year’s London Tech Week, Europe’s largest festival of technology and innovation, with a range of events held across the city from 11-17 June.
- General tickets and VIP tickets (which include a range of hospitality packages) are available for the UIM F1H2O World Championship Grand Prix of London. For further information, general enquiries about the UIM F1H2O World Championship Grand Prix of London, and details of how your business can be part of the UIM F1H2O World Championship Grand Prix of London please visit www.f1h2o.co.uk. Alternatively, you can contact Mark Thomas at F1H2OLondonService@hotmail.com
- The British and Chinese Grands Prix, as part of the 2018 UIM F1H2O World Championship, are being backed by Tian Rong Sports, and the UIM F1H2O World Championship Grand Prix of London represents the first time that a Chinese company has promoted and underwritten a sporting event outside of China.
- The UIM F1H2O World Championship Grand Prix of London is proud to have been awarded carbon neutral status, as part of a joint environmental initiative called ‘Powerboating Goes Green’, which was launched by H2O Racing in conjunction with the UIM at the end of 2017. Since the initiative’s inception, more than 1,000 trees have been planted in Africa through the Treedom programme, which allows users to view the number of kilos of carbon dioxide emitted by races and the respective number of trees planted in response.
Further information on the UIM F1H2O World Championship
- Now in its 35th season, the UIM F1H2O World Championship will mark the ninth time that the UK has hosted a round; the eight previous rounds were staged at Holme Pierrepont (1981); Bristol (1982 & 1990); London (1983, 1984 & 1985); and Cardiff (1993 & 1994).
- The last Grand Prix of London was also staged at Royal Victoria Dock, and was won by British driver, Bob Spalding. That same year and following two further victories at the Munich (GER) and Lyon (FRA) Grands Prix, Spalding was crowned the UIM Formula 1 World Champion.
- During the 2018 UIM F1H2O World Championship, the prestigious number 1 plate will be carried by the defending four-time world champion, Alex Carella from Italy.
- The six-metre-long, 2.1-metre-wide, 550kg boats (weight includes residual fuel and oil, the driver with personal equipment, but excludes loose water), which carry a maximum of 120 litres of fuel, can accelerate from 0-100km/h in four seconds.
- All boats are powered by the Mercury 2.5litre, two-stroke, outboard engine, which generates near to 400hp (at 10,500rpm), and has been used by the UIM Formula 1 World Championship (now the UIM F1H2O World Championship) since 2000.
- Since its inception in 1981 the UIM Formula 1 World Championship has played out 272 Grands Prix in 32 countries across five continents, while 13 drivers have claimed the world title, with 47 of them becoming members of the illustrious Grands Prix winners’ club.
- Of the 13 world champions, seven are multiple title winners: Italy’s Guido Cappellini is the most decorated with 10 wins; Italy’s Alex Carella and American Scott Gillman with four each; France’s Philippe Chiappe and Italy’s Renato Molinari with three each; and Finland’s Sami Selio and Great Britain’s Jonathan Jones with two apiece.
- The boats’ safety features include: an airbag; a cockpit and hull built from carbon fibre, Kevlar, synthetic fibre, airex and nomex; a bullet-proof windscreen; and plastic foam-tipped hulls to avoid penetration in case of collision. Additionally, and just like their Formula 1® counterparts, F1H2O drivers wear the head and neck support (HANS) device.
- While boats in the 1980s were constructed from thin plywood and featured an open, exposed cockpit; today’s boats are made from strong, lightweight composite materials, such as carbon fibre and Kevlar, and in the interest of safety the driver is now strapped into his/her seat within a ‘safety cell’, which was developed by British designer and racer, Chris Hodges.
- F4-S boats are constructed of the same materials as Formula 1 boats and are a similar twin-sponson, tunnel-hull catamaran design. Although they are approximately a quarter of the weight (118kg) of Formula 1 boats and have considerably less powerful engines (60bhp), they still manage to reach speeds of over 70mph.
About Tian Rong Sports
Tian Rong Sports is a professional company operating and investing in the international sports entertainment industry.
Tian Rong Sports is the exclusive institution authorised by the Union Internationale Motonautique (UIM) to promote the UIM F1H2O World Championship in China and the UK, and has successfully held the Grand Prix of China 19 times. It owns all commercial rights and interests of this event within the territory of China and the UK.
The CTIC F1 Powerboat China Team is co-founded by the China Water Sports Administration and Tian Rong Sports. In season 2014, 2015 and 2016, the team has consecutively won a hat-trick of UIM F1H2O World Championship titles.
In this new era, Tian Rong Sports aims at renovating itself in order to fuel the development of China’s national maritime strategy, as well as the ‘Belt and Road’ initiative.
About H2O Racing
H2O Racing is an international sports management, marketing and media company responsible for organising and promoting events in powerboat and jet ski racing.
The multi-faceted company, founded by Nicolo di San Germano in 2011, is responsible for three Union Internationale Motonautique (UIM) sanctioned properties; the F1H2O World Powerboat Championship, the Aquabike Circuit World Championship and the Nations Cup Powerboat World Series.
The company is the worldwide television and commercial rights holder for all Championships and responsible for all commercial, marketing, television, media and organisational activities.
President: Nicolo di San Germano
f1h2o.com
aquabike.net
cuph2o.com
About London & Partners
London & Partners is the Mayor of London’s official promotional agency. Its purpose is to support the Mayor’s priorities by promoting London internationally, as the best city in the world in which to invest, work, study and visit. We do this by devising creative ways to promote London and to amplify the Mayor’s messages, priorities and campaigns to international audiences. Its mission is to tell London’s story brilliantly to an international audience.
London & Partners is a not-for-profit public private partnership, funded by the Mayor of London and our network of commercial partners. For more information, visit www.londonandpartners.com
Media Contacts
For any media enquiries please contact:
Tim Welland, Senior Account Director, Revolution Sports + Entertainment
Tel: +44 (0)203 176 0355 | Mob: +44 (0)7787 780 036 | Email: tim@revolutionsports.co.uk
Niki McEwen, Associate Director, Revolution Sports + Entertainment
Tel: +44 (0)203 176 0355 | Mob: +44 (0)7557 554 168 | Email: niki@revolutionsports.co.uk