New Emirates GBR driver Giles Scott, who replaces Ben Ainslie with immediate effect, has spoken about taking over the position.
A two-time Olympic gold medallist, Scott is also Ainslie’s teammate on the INEOS Britannia America’s Cup Team. Despite this, Scott says he has ‘a lot of catching up to do’ ahead of his racing debut in Abu Dhabi.
“A lot of the drivers here have been competing for multiple seasons and with this circuit you don’t get an awful lot of training time,” he said.
However, he complimented the experience and quality of the Emirates GBR team, which includes two time Olympic champion Hannah Mills in the role of strategist.
“I’m very fortunate being a new driver that one thing that I do have is an amazing team - everybody involved is hugely experienced, top quality sailors and ultimately I’ve got to try and step up to their mark.”
Scott admitted ‘there’s pressure everywhere’ as he prepares to race in Abu Dhabi. "I’m stepping in and doing the job that Ben Ainslie’s been doing - that’s certainly no small thing to take on and the team as a whole expects excellence and I hope I’ll be able to get there and deliver the goods.”
Despite replacing Ainslie midway through Season 4, Scott has been helming the British F50 in pre-event training sessions and was listed as Ainslie’s reserve driver ahead of Los Angeles last summer.
But Abu Dhabi will see him go head to head against the rest of the F50 fleet for the first time when racing gets underway on January 13-14.
