I recently spoke to Erik Stark who is in Florida for the final round of the 2025 UIM E1 World Championship on November 7-8, finding himself and Team Miami at the bottom of the championship table, a position the highly experienced Swede doesn’t often find himself in.
In fact it hasn’t been the best of seasons for the man who won four successive UIM F2 World Championships between 2011 and 2014, and claimed F1H2O silver medals in 2018 and 2023.
Currently sitting in sixth position in the 2025 F1H2O World Championship with two races in Saudi Arabia and the UAE left to compete for, the contrast between the all-electric E1 RaceBird and the petrol-powered F1H2O boats couldn’t be starker, yet Stark finds himself battling for results in both series this season.
Chris Davies |
Erik Stark |
|---|---|
You came third overall in Season One, you head to Miami in ninth, that must be a shock to you. |
Yes, we have had a really difficult season with technical issues almost every race. We tried changing things but are struggling to solve the problem with an obvious lack of speed and control of the boat. |
Looking through the results for this year, the top step of the podium hasn’t been controlled by one team like it was last year, what do you think has changed from season one? |
What is very apparent is the level of driver skill has really increased a lot this year. It’s not easy to be up there with these very fast drivers coming from different disciplines. The level of all the teams is just getting higher and higher. This year has been a lot more competitive, we have even seen crashes between drivers plus a lot more tight battles at the front. |
With both you, an F1H2O racer and Anna, a Jetski racer coming from waterborne racing, does that make it easier when you are discussing strategies within the team? |
Difficult to say really, for sure last year we had an advantage coming from waterborne racing but this year not, because all the pilots have become more familiar with the RaceBirds. |
Has this been your toughest ever season in powerboat racing? |
Yes, it has been really hard both in F1H2O and E1. The results are far away in both classes from where I need to be, I know that. Both Team Abu Dhabi and Team Miami powered by Magnus have had some bad luck which I hope can be converted into good luck soon. So, yes probably the hardest year in twenty-six years of racing. |
It’s very rare to see you miss a race, just how much does a clash in your racing schedule put you at a disadvantage for the next E1 race? |
It’s hard for both me and the team but it is what it is. We are all trying to persuade the UIM, F1H2O, and E1 to try to work together so they don’t put races on the same weekend. It’s not just our team as many of the drivers and team members are also involved in F1H2O. |
You started the season in Jeddah dominating Saturday’s group stages, then it all started to unravel with you being penalised for a lane breach. Rolling starts, hitting the line on time, maintaining your lane, is the opening moments the hardest part of the race? |
I am still convinced that we didn’t do anything wrong in Jeddah but in the end they didn’t change the penalty. I would say the start is crucial as it is in F1H2O. In E1 we can play a lot with strategy, with short laps, race laps, and long laps. So if you are quick and have a good strategy you can gain a lot even with a bad start. |
On several occasions we have seen conventional turn buoys drift off the course halting the race, would you welcome the use of ‘smart marks’ throughout the other series you compete in? |
I’ve seen turn buoys drifting in all classes, perhaps in F1H2O they are moving more 🙂 The ‘smart marks’ are very clever but for F1 I wouldn’t recommend them because the platform that the actual buoy is attached to is big and above the water line so it would cause a lot of damage to an F1H2O boat if they hit it, plus the cost of repairing a smart mark is eye watering. |
Every round this season you have ended the weekend in the Place Race Final, going into the last race of the year where will you find the energy, enthusiasm, and force to make sure you top the standings in Miami? |
The whole team is working very hard to find the issue with our speed and handling of the RaceBird. For sure, we are trying new stuff every race to get back in the top spot where we know we belong. We never give up because we win together as a team, and we lose together as a team. |
On November 9 the Miami Dolphins take on the Buffalo Bills at the Hard Rock Stadium, your E1 Team Owner, Marc Anthony is a co-owner of the Dolphins NFL team, has he invited you to the game? |
Ha-ha that would be cool. We haven’t spoken about the game yet. But of course it’s a possibility. Right now all our focus is on trying to end the season with a good result as it’s our home race. So big pressure on the team for this. The fun things we have to speak about after. |
