Austria’s only Formula-1-driver at the start of the Grand Prix in France
Austria’s only Formula-1-driver at the start of the Grand Prix in France
On June 28th F1H2O – the water Formula 1 – is visiting Evian on Lake Geneva with the second World Championship race this season (the first having been in Doha, Qatar). Among the racers Austria’s one and only Formula 1 racer at present – be it on the road or on water – Amstetten-born Bernd Enzenhofer .The “premier league” in international motorboat racing is without doubt one of the most fascinating, but also of the hardest and most dangerous possibilities to race.
Twenty guys and one girl will be flying over waves hard as stone in their five-metre long race-catamarans which are made of carbon fibre just like their name twins on the road and which can do up to 230 km/h thanks to their 420-HP-engines. At the standing start the pilots will be catapulted to 160 km/h in a mere 3.5 seconds. In narrow turns – that is the nautically correct expression for bends – 6g are affecting the body of the racer. In automobile Formula 1 such centrifugal force comes into effect only in accidents. In a powerboat-grand-prix, however, this happens several times per race.
At the race in Evian les Bains the Austrian F1 rookie Bernd Enzenhofer, whose first race in the top-league of powerboat racing was Doha, is going to focus on collecting as many racing laps and thus miles and experience on the water as possible. Finishing the WC-race in France would be a huge success in view of the usually high knock-out rate in motorboat racing – the ultimate goal for Evian will be to reach the checkered flag.
