The journey of Spain from SailGP underdog to first-time event winners in LA has been put under the spotlight ahead of the young team’s home event in Cádiz this weekend.
Members of the crew, including driver Diego Botin and wing trimmer Florian Trittel, reflect on the team’s bumpy journey since joining the league in Season 2 with former driver Phil Robertson.
Both Botin and Trittel reflect on the crew changes made earlier this year, which saw former driver Jordi Xammar replaced by Botin.
“Emotionally it was very tough,” Botin said. “It’s a very tough situation when you are close friends in a team to take some decisions and make some changes.”
Trittel added that the friendship between himself and Xammar had to be ‘put aside’.
“We have a friendship and at the same time we are professional athletes and there is some point where you have to split both things and put some things aside and say ok, that emotional part is no longer part of this journey at this stage,” he said. “You’ve got to perform, that’s why we’re here - and I think that’s been the hardest challenge over the past months.”
Currently sitting 3rd on the Championship leaderboard, Spain will go head to head against the rest of the F50 fleet this weekend when the Spain Sail Grand Prix | Andalucia-Cadiz gets underway on October 14-15.
