Dani Clos’ story has come full circle. Fourteen years ago, he was going wheel-to-wheel with Sergio Perez around the iconic streets of Monaco in Formula One’s feeder series GP2. Now, he is back racing in the principality – this time on the water of the iconic Port Hercules. And not against Perez, but for him.
The Spaniard is one of two pilots for Team Sergio Perez, which is one of nine teams in the new E1 Series. It is an all-electric hydrofoil boating championship founded by the same brains behind Formula E and Extreme E. For Clos, racing in the X-wing-like boats that glide across the water using foils marks a very different career than he envisaged back in 2010.
It’s crazy! It’s a fantastic opportunity,” the former karter and racecar driver tells Express Sport. “I really like the sea. I really like the water. I’ve been involved in boats for many, many years but not racing boats. Finding myself racing in E1 is something fantastic.
“I saw it on social media when they started promoting the series. No drivers were there but it got my attention and there was a moment where everything was pure coincidence. I was racing against Checo when we were in GP2, and everything happened so easy and so natural.”
It’s a unique tale for Clos to be able to tell, having gone from plotting to beat Perez to working alongside him. That race in Monaco 14 years ago saw Perez, now a Red Bull driver in F1, clinch his first ever GP2 win at the age of 20. Clos had started on pole but the Barcelona-born racer had to settle for P3 behind Pastor Maldonado.
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