eThe SailGP circuit has jumped into Europe with the celebration on June 5 and 6 of the Italian Grand Prix in the waters of Taranto. After the premiere of the 2021-2022 season in Bermuda, the big sailing show is hitting the old continent hard.
F50 Victoria, the Spanish SailGP team, will do just that after taking a commendable fourth place in the April test in Hamilton. (Bermuda), stay at the gates of the final. The Italian Grand Prix will be the third of the events the F50 Victoria has participated in, after Sydney in 2020 and Bermuda in 2021, and will be the first time it has competed on the European continent.
After performing well in the previous two events, the F50 Victoria is ready again, with a very competitive team and with The clear goal to improve the fourth place achieved in previous events.
In the current season of the SailGP circuit, eight teams are competing, namely: Australia, Denmark, the United States, Great Britain, France, Japan and New Zealand.
In Taranto, the F50 Victoria repeats practically the same crew that participated in the Great Sound of Bermuda. Olympians Florian Tritel and Diego Botin will compete in the final regatta before focusing on the Tokyo Olympics. The rest of the squad are Phil Robertson, Antonio ‘Eti’ Cuervas Mons, Matthew Barber, Lucas Tretell and Andrea Eamonn, along with Xabi Fernandez as coach.
F50 Victoria driver Phil Robertson of New Zealand explains, “The Bermuda Grand Prix was a great start for our team. We know we can be more competitive and get to the top, but we need to keep working.”
The winner of the first event in Bermuda, Great Britain, will not have his sponsor Ben Ainsley, To be replaced by Olympic champion Paul Goodison. So are New Zealanders Peter Borling and Blair Talk, the current America’s Cup champion. Multiple American Cup winners James Spiethel will be on the USA field, Nathan Outrig of Japan, France’s Billy Besson, Tom Slingsby of Australia and Nikolai Sihsted of Denmark.
The start of the Italian Grand Prix will be on Friday with the official practice regatta. On the weekend, Saturday the fifth, three tests are scheduled and on Sunday the sixth, two tests and a third, where the top three of the Grand Final qualifiers will play. In Bermuda, the podium was erected by Great Britain, Australia and France.
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