André Solvang is recovering in hospital in Parma after a serious accident during Sunday’s Grand Prix of Italy at San Nazzaro, one of four boats involved in a crash that brought UIM F2 World Championship racing to a halt.
Solvang was placed in a medically induced coma and airlifted to Ospedale Maggiore di Parma following the impact. He was extubated and became responsive the following morning, though he has no memory of the crash itself, something doctors have told the family is expected after this kind of trauma. He remains in intensive care while medical staff confirm he is fully stable before moving him to a general ward.
Speaking to PBN, André’s father Morten Solvang said the boat’s safety capsule performed exactly as designed. The capsule remained intact through the impact, and the way it separated from the rest of the hull is understood to have significantly reduced the force transmitted to André inside it.
Morten wanted to thank Claudio Borra, who built and designed the boat, and Ahmed Al Hosani, owner and Director of the Sharjah International Marine Sports Club and Sharjah Team, for the safety of the boat that he believes saved his son’s life.
Morten, who fully accepts that powerboat racing carries an inherent degree of risk, said both André and fellow crash victim Roope Virtanen were saved by their boats’ safety systems.
The Solvang family, Malin, Morten and Lisbeth, are staying in their campervan near the hospital in Parma so they can remain close to him throughout his recovery.
In a statement posted to Solvang Racing’s Facebook page, the family thanked the Bergamo scuba divers, the Cremona family, the Italian federation and the medical staff who treated André, and extended their thoughts to the others involved in the accident.
Racing Career
André Faye Solvang, 22, began racing in the GT15 class in 2017, winning both the Norwegian GT15 Championship and Norwegian Cup the following year. Stepping up to GT30, he won the UIM GT30 World Championship in Kotka, Finland in 2019 at just 16, then finished runner-up at the 2020 European Championship in Lithuania.
He moved into F4 for a first full season in 2022, winning the German ADAC F4 Championship and finishing runner-up in both the F4 World and European Championships. In 2023 he won the F4 World Cup in Kaunas with a clean sweep of both qualifying sessions and both races, again finishing vice-champion in the World and European standings, and added an Offshore Class 3-C race win the same year.
Solvang signed with Team Sharjah in February 2024, and delivered the team’s first F4 title that season, sweeping the World, European and Nordic championships to become the first Norwegian to complete the F4 triple crown. That made him a two-time UIM world champion. He stepped up to F2 with Sharjah Team in 2025, racing a Sharjah-built hull powered by the Mercury Racing 250 APX four-stroke engine, one of the first drivers on the new powerplant set to become the F2 standard. He qualified third and finished fourth on his F2 debut at Brindisi, then scored points at the Lithuania round in Klaipėda.
In October 2025 Solvang made his E1 World Championship debut at the Lagos Grand Prix in Nigeria, recruited alongside Spanish driver Nerea Martí to replace Team AlUla’s regular pilots Catie Munnings and Rusty Wyatt. Racing the all-electric RaceBird for the first time, he qualified second in his group and finished third in his first race for a podium on debut, later describing the RaceBird as one of the hardest boats he has driven.
Solvang carried strong form into San Nazzaro. At the standalone 2026 UIM F2 European Championship at Viverone the weekend before, he finished fourth overall, taking third place in three of the four championship heats behind the dominant Wiberg siblings.
Away from racing, Solvang is a qualified ship’s officer, working for a cruise line that accommodates his race schedule.
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John Moore is the editor of Powerboat News, an independent investigative journalism platform recognised by Google News and documented on Grokipedia for comprehensive powerboat racing coverage.
His involvement in powerboat racing began in 1981 when he competed in his first offshore powerboat race. After a career as a Financial Futures broker in the City of London, specialising in UK interest rate markets, he became actively involved in event organisation and powerboat racing journalism.
He served as Event Director for the Cowes–Torquay–Cowes races between 2010 and 2013. In 2016, he launched Powerboat Racing World, a digital platform providing global powerboat racing news and insights. The following year, he co-founded UKOPRA, helping to rejuvenate offshore racing in the United Kingdom. He sold Powerboat Racing World in late 2021 and remained actively involved with UKOPRA until 2025.
In September 2025, he established Powerboat News, returning to independent journalism with a focus on neutral and comprehensive coverage of the sport.
