Ricciardo-Marquez guests of Alinghi: what a challenge on a boat – VIDEO

by VALERIO BARRETTA

Marquez and Ricciardo guests of Alinghi

Ahead of this weekend’s Montmeló Grand Prix, the idols of Spanish motorsport were great protagonists. Carlos Sainz drove around the Ramblas of Barcelona aboard a road Ferrari, while Marc Marquez he challenged Daniel in the water Ricciardo. The eight-time world champion in the MotoGP battled againstHoney Badger in the waters of the Catalan city, home of the America’s Cup: the two, guests of Alinghi Red Bull Racing, were “trained” by skipper Arnaud Psarofaghis and competed on the Swiss team’s AC40s, testing speeds of almost 90 km/h. Another step compared to what they are used to, but judging from the images shared by the RB team it was an adrenaline-filled and exciting challenge.

Video

Here are the images of the challenge.

Ricciardo’s words

The winner was Ricciardo, who commented on this experience as follows: “The way these boats are built and their structure looks a lot like the cockpit of a Formula car 1. They are very sensitive to the wind, so aerodynamics also have a certain importance. It’s very similar to what we do, everything requires a lot of finesse. You never know what to expect when you have an experience like that, but I had a lot of fun. Doing it with Marc was also amazing. I want to wish the team all the best for the America’s Cup“.

Marquez’s words

“The speed is completely different“, added Marquez. “Maybe in terms of kilometers per hour it is slower, but the sensation of speed was very high. When you’re in it, it doesn’t feel like you’re flying. But then I saw Daniel’s boat flying alongside us and realized I was doing it too. For me the most impressive thing is the coordination needed inside the boat. The most important thing I asked myself is how do they learn and understand what they need to do. Because it was very difficult to perceive what was happening inside the boat. You have to be super precise. In motorsports, if you make a mistake, you crash. But here, in the race, I imagine that if you make a small mistake, the speed decreases very quickly, and then it takes a long time to reach that speed again“.