20+ Years of experience in the motorsport industry, and a host of insights is what Rodi Basso hosts with him. In the conversation, Rodi shared his experiences and insights and a lot of information about not only his past career but the first ever electric powerboat racing series of its kind – E1 SERIES.
Watch the interview or even read on. Do either to find out what Rodi has to say!
About himself, Rodi says that for the past 20 years, what he has been doing is what he is passionate for and what he loves to do, and this time he is loving it as he is able to work for himself. His own project, that is E1 Series. Rodi and his team have been very busy recently as they been able to successfully test the first real – life prototype manufactured version of the RaceBird on water in Italy. On the same, Rodi says that it has been a worthy experience and a lot of teamwork that was put into it. With 20 years of experience, he knows how to build a team and run it, especially since that is what his passion is in. He describes himself as someone who is “motivated by the future” and isn’t just a visionary but also someone who doesn’t just dream but also “design and execute” the work, in which being surrounded by talented people is very helpful and crucial.
With so much continuous work on his plate, starting in Formula 1, to now being the CTO of Seabird Technologies and the CEO and Co – founder of E1 Series, Rodi believes that what has been crucial is “the never ending exercise of keep checking and finding the balance across all interests” that he is able to practice, also thanks to what he calls is him being very lucky with having such a good group of close friends and family.
He is also very assertive about his beliefs as he continues to show confidence and belief in his belief that the future of motorsports like Formula 1 is electric, albeit he does include hydrogen powered and other forms of electric generation under that seemingly.
E1 SERIES
E1 series is the new electric powerboat racing series which will see the brand new technologically advanced RaceBird as the racing machine that will be raced, with the series looking for the most talented and successful drivers in the field of powerboat racing to be a part of the series initially. This series also pitched itself in the same manner that E1 Series’s Co – Founder Alejandro Agag’s series Extreme E pitches itself, and that is a competition of the best in the world in some of the most advanced new technology driven machines to raise awareness alongside. Rodi even goes to the extent to saying that it would be right to say that E1 Series isn’t “just a racing series, it is a campaign to connect the community” for change.
Rodi believes that motorsport allows for such awareness to be delivered without limitations. He has taken note of how there is a big “water mobility” community that is already out there, and with the prospect that E1 Series promises with its partnerships and technological outlook it could really bring in more people into that community. But the question that then stands there is when and where can the fans see them and what will the racing series be like? Well, in the conversation not only did Rodi talk about the future prospects and the idea about the series but also revealed key details such as the possible race cities.
Through E1 Series, the organisers are trying to create a “meeting point between powerboating, motorsport and sailing” as the series tries to bring in technologies from different formats and racing formats of different styles into 1 single series. They have 3 key dimensions that they seek to work with and to some extent even pioneer which are “City Brands”, meaning providing a whole experience and develop a holistic collaboration. So much so, that even their teams will be city based such as the “Venice Racing Team”. The second dimension is technology, as they seek to develop and “accelerate the electrification of the marine industry” and develop new technologies. And the thirs one is sustainability.
The series in reality at the moment, is looking for a Spring 2023 start with atleast 8 cities “of which seven are [in] very very advanced conversation” and these host cities/countries revealed by Rodi Basso are Saudi Arabia, Monaco, Venice, Miami, Rotterdam, Dallas and Rome. At the same time, they are also in early-stage conversations with certain cities in Asia where they aim to create a second hub after one in Europe.
Rodi outlines that what they are looking for is cities that fit certain criterias which are to be an “iconic, for beauty or historical role”, “interested in innovation” and “interested in sustainability”.
On being asked in what manner could young racers come into this, especially from cities where powerboating isn’t a sport with infrastructure as of yet, apart from the already present systems in European cities, Rodi again emphasized on the city brand dimension and how these teams will work on creating that community and building that team, and work on manners to get people into this.
And about the future of E1 Series, Rodi shares that he is “evaluating many sources of energy… meant to generate electricity and hydrogen is the first one on the list” responding to the curiosity over the possibility of a hydrogen powered series in the future, just like their sister series, which they share offices with, Extreme E has announced a hydrogen powered version. Charging is another aspect that they are working on, and planning on providing the infrastructure they use for the cities to keep. E1 Series, on the technology front, through their “cross fertilisation…[they] have sped up the process” of “technology to allow yachts and leisure boats to get to this level”
The charging has been said to be “stealth” which Rodi elaborates as that it is a point of innovation as it has to be a design that can be used at all races, that is all ports and will be environmentally friendly, technologically advanced and aesthetic as well. Racebirds will be charged ones during the night, said Rodi, for the Qualifying rounds, and then once more later for those who qualify into the final.
RODI’S CAREER
Rodi’s career has been from Formula 1 as a Race Performance Engineer at Scuderia Ferrari, reporting to Ross Brawn. Race engineering Rubens Barrichello, and then David Coulthard in Red Bull Racing, reporting to Adrian Newey. He then worked in relation to theA1GP on the part of the cars and simulator work for the drivers and then he went to Magneti Marelli. Later, he was even the Motorsport Business Director at McLaren Applied, working on some prestigious projects such as F1 Hybrid system and the FormulaE Gen2 Battery. He has also founded Global Evolve Holding LLP and is currently now the CTO of Seabird Technologies and the Co – Founder and CEO of E1 Series.
He shares some memorable experiences such as the Suzuka pole posititon for Barrichello as it was generally a atrack where Schumacher did better. He shares that he saw Schumacher doing laps when he went for his job interview with Ferrari and said to himself that he “better get this job”. He then shares as to how there is a good rivalry between the two sides of the garage. About his time at Red Bull Racing, he thinks that the experience of working in such a new time and with people from so many different teams helped him have a very good learning experience.
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