France’s impressive return to the F50 fleet in Sydney after sitting out the first two events of the season has been captured in the latest episode of Racing on the Edge.
Quentin Delapierre’s squad sat out the season opener in Dubai and following event in Auckland while awaiting a new F50. It came after a crushing disappointment for the team at last season’s Grand Final, which saw the French and Spanish locked in a battle to qualify for the three boat Final.
Putting everything on the line, France cut across ROCKWOOL DEN at the final turning mark of the fourth fleet race, narrowly avoiding a full collision but hitting the Danish boat and damaging its own F50. It followed the team narrowly missing out on qualifying for the Season 3 Grand Final – losing out to Emirates GBR then driven by Ben Ainslie.
Speaking about the experience, Delapierre says: “I think what I’ve learned from missing two Grand Finals is, I don’t really care about the way or the track I will follow to achieve this goal. I just want to achieve the goal. And this is maturity for me.”
France’s return to the fleet was captured amid Sydney’s chaotic practice racing, which saw collisions between German and Red Bull Italy and Germany and Mubadala Brazil, as well as a capsize of the U.S. team before racing.
Racing on the Edge features unprecedented access and up close interviews with the Championship’s biggest personalities, including Australia driver Tom Slingsby, New Zealand’s Peter Burling and CEO Russell Coutts.
Every episode of Racing on the Edge is available on SailGP’s YouTube channel.
by Miranda Blazeby @ SailGP Media
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