Draft:E1 Series

The UIM E1 Series is a Union Internationale Motonautique-sanctioned international offshore powerboat racing series. The series uses specially designed all-electric hydrofoil boats, and promotes gender equality in motorsport by mandating that all teams consist of a female and a male pilot who share equal driving duties.

The first season began with the E1 Jeddah GP in Saudi Arabia in February 2024.

Creation
The E1 Series began in 2020 as a project created by Alejandro Agag, founder of Formula E and Extreme E, and Rodi Basso, former director of Motorport at McLaren and Formula 1 engineer.

Sophi Horne designed the RaceBird.

Testing
Cara Delevingne helped with the launch.

Piloted the Racebird for the Test Event in Rotterdam in November 2023

2024 season
The inaugural season consists of 9 teams and 18 drivers. It began in February in Jeddah, and is nicknamed the "Race to Hong Kong", as the final race will take place in Hong Kong in November.

Race format
A race weekend consists of testing, free practice, and qualifying on the first day, while the semi-finals, play-off race, eliminator race, place race, and finals all take place on the second day. The pilots switch off for each session, with the teams deciding when the female pilot will drive and when the male pilot will drive. The course consists of a long lap and a short lap, and uses electronic buoys to mark the boundaries.

Boat
The RaceBird is

Teams and drivers
The series was originally designed to have teams representing various cities and countries around the world, with the Venice Racing Team being the first team to join. However, as the series continued its development, the teams instead moved towards celebrity owners like Tom Brady and Rafael Nadal.

E1 regulations require each team to select a male and female pilot, who share equal driving duties.

The UIM E1 Pilot Academy was created to train a new generation of racers to compete in the E1 Series. Female and male athletes with experience in motorsport, cycling, Esports, extreme sports and high-speed sports were invited to apply. A total of 34 racers took part in the training in 2023, with 18 being selected to compete in the inaugural season of the series.

Race locations
The inaugural season saw locations that were relatively close to each other, in order to limit the carbon footprint of the series.

Broadcasts and documentary series
A documentary titled "E1: Learning to Fly", that showed the process from creation to the first race, was released on YouTube on May 12, 2024.