For a day, Daniel Ricciardo and Marc Márquez swapped the racetrack for the water, getting the chance to sail two America’s Cup yachts in Barcelona – guided by skipper Arnaud Psarofaghis.
Ricciardo, a Formula 1 driver, and Márquez, a MotoGP rider, faced off in a friendly competition, experiencing the adrenaline of speeds around 90 km/h. The Australian emerged victorious.
Both drivers are associated with Red Bull, which also has its own team in the America’s Cup – Alinghi Red Bull Racing, working alongside Red Bull Advanced Technologies to leverage synergies with F1.
After the race, Márquez said: ‘The speed is completely different. Maybe in kilometres per hour it’s slower, but the feeling of the speed was super high. When you’re in it, you don’t feel like you are flying. But then I saw Daniel’s boat flying by our side, and I realised I was too. We were foiling super smoothly’.
From his side, Ricciardo commented: ‘The way these boats are built and the structure feels a lot like the cockpit of a Formula One car. They’re super sensitive with the wind, so aerodynamics has some crossover as well. It’s a lot like what we do, with small movements and everything needs a lot of finesse’.
