Erik Stark (born 13 November 1987) is a Swedish powerboat racing driver who races in the F1H2O World Championship and in the XCAT World Championship for the United Arab Emirates-owned Victory Team. On the first round of 2021 UIM-F1H2O World Championship, Grand Prix of Europe, Stark raced with Gillman Racing Team.
| Erik Stark | |
|---|---|
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| Born | 13 November 1987 |
| F1H2O World Championship career | |
| Debut season | 2014 |
| Current team | Victory Team |
| Engine | Mercury |
| Former teams | Team Sweden, Emirates Racing Team, Maverick F1 Team, Abu Dhabi Team |
| Starts | 36 |
| Wins | 4 |
| Podiums | 10 |
| Poles | 6 |
| Best finish | First in 2018 |
| Championship titles | |
| 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2018 | F2 World Champion, Offshore 3C and Thundercat P750 World Champion, F2 European Champion, F2 Nordic Champion, F1H2O Pole Position Trophy |
| Awards | |
| 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2019 | UIM Awarding Ceremony for F2 World Championship[1] and F1H2O World Championship |
He has won the title in the UIM F2 World Championship on four occasions and won world championships in offshore Class 3C and P750 (ThunderCat).
Stark has also won a hat-trick of F2 European Championships was F2 Nordic Champion four times.
As of December 2021, he held the record for winning four UIM F2 World Championship in a row.[2]
Stark started in F1H2O in 2014 with Team Nautica[3] and achieved his first win in 2017 with Team Sweden.[4][5][6] In 2017 he finished 3rd in the World Championship and in 2018 he finished 2nd with the Abu Dhabi Team, only 4 points behind the winner. In 2018, he won the F1H2O Pole Position Trophy. During the summer of 2019, he joined the Dubai based Victory Team[7] and made his debut in offshore powerboat racing Class 1 finishing on the podium.[8][9][10]
Personal life and awards
editBorn and raised in Stockholm, Sweden, Stark's interest in powerboat racing started in 1999 when his neighbor, a powerboat racing driver, introduced him to the powerboating world and encouraged him to get a license to drive boats. In 2000 Stark participated in his first race in Junior class S250, and in 2002 he won the Swedish Championship in that category. His racing career continued as he went up through the higher categories T400, F4 -S, F2, Thunder Cat, Offshore 3C, X-Cat, F1H2O and Class 1.[11]
In 2009, Stark was elected rookie of the year. In 2011 and 2014 he was elected Nordic driver of the year,[12] and in 2015, in occasion of the winning of his forth F2 World Title, he was awarded the "Konungens Jubeliums medalj" (King's Jubilee Medal) by the King of Sweden. In 2019 he was awarded at the Annual UIM Awarding Ceremony in Montecarlo for his second place at the F1H2O World Championship 2018. [13]
Early career
editUIM S250 Swedish Championship
edit2002: Winner of the S250 Swedish Championship
UIM T400 European & Swedish Championship
editSource:[14]
2006: 3rd position T400 European Championship
2007: Winner of the T400 Swedish Championship
UIM F4-S World Championship
edit2006: Winner of the F4-S World Championship
UIM Scandinavian Cup F2000
editSource:[14]
2007: 4th position Scandinavian Cup and Runner up of the year in the Scandinavian F2000 Cup
2008: 4th position Scandinavian Cup and Winner Sundsvall Formula 2000 Mercury Grand Prix
2009: 2nd position Scandinavian Cup and Winner Strängnäs Formula 2000 Mercury Grand Prix
UIM 3C Offhsore World Championship
edit2011: Winner of the UIM 3C Offshore World Championship
UIM THUNDERCAT P750 PRO World Championship
edit2012: Winner of the Thundercat P750 PRO World Championship
F2 and F1H2O Career
editUIM Scandinavian F2 OPEN
edit2010: 2nd position UIM Scandinavian F2 Open and Winner Karlskrona Scandinavian F2 Open
UIM F2 Nordic Championship
edit2010: Winner UIM F2 Nordic Championship
2011: Winner UIM F2 Nordic Championship and Nordic Driver of the year
2012: Winner UIM F2 Nordic Championship
2014: Winner UIM F2 Nordic Championship and Nordic Driver of the year
UIM F2 European Championship
edit2011:Winner UIM F2 European Championship
2012: Winner UIM F2 European Championship
2013: Winner UIM F2 European Championship
UIM F2 World Championship
edit2011: Winner UIM F2 World Championship[16]
2012: Winner UIM F2 World Championship[17]
2013: Winner UIM F2 World Championship[18]
2014: Winner UIM F2 World Championship[19]
UIM F1H2O World Championship
edit2014: 6th position UIM F1 World Championship[20]
2015: 6th position UIM F1 World Championship[21]
2016: 7th position UIM F1 World Championship[22]
2017: 3rd position UIM F1 World Championship[23]
2018: 2nd position UIM F1 World Championship[24]
2019: 16th position UIM F1 World Championship[25]
Other categories
edit2013: 6th position UIM Offshore XCAT World Championship
2015: 5th position UIM Offshore XCAT World Championship
2016: 4th position UIM Offshore XCAT World Championship
2017: 4th position UIM Offshore XCAT World Championship
2021: 2nd position UIM Offshore XCAT World Championship
2019: 3rd position Class 1 Roar Offshore Fort Myers Beach Powerboat Race
References
edit- ^ "Stark shines in Monte Carlo", F2 World Championship, 1 March 2013.
- ^ "Stark wins 4th WC!", F2 World Championship, 15 December 2014.
- ^ Strom, Lars."Erik Stark is stepping up to UIM F1H2O with Team Nautica 2014", Svera.se, 28 November 2013.
- ^ "Stark storms to maiden Grand Prix win in Harbin", The Marine News, 13 August 2017.
- ^ Perkins, Neil."Stark Ssnatches first F1H2O win in China", Powerboat Racing World, 13 August 2017
- ^ Gomes, Alaric."Stark reality sinks in for delighted Swede after Harbin success", Gulf News, 13 August 2017.
- ^ Alghoul, Rola."Dubai's Victory Team Welcomes Erik Stark", Emirates News Agency, 17 July 2019.
- ^ Hinawi, Asma."Erik Stark will race for the Victory Team in Class 1 International", Powerboat Racing World, 1 September 2019.
- ^ Gomes, Alaric."Dubai's Victory Team Triumphs with US Crown", Gulf News, 13 October 2019.
- ^ "Victory 3 takes win and national title in opas class one", PowerboatNation.com, 15 October 2019.
- ^ "About Erik Stark", ErikStarkRacing.com.
- ^ "Congratulations Erik Stark Nordic Driver of the Year", Goldgenie, 17 February 2017.
- ^ Perkins, Neil."Abu Dhabi collect plethora of awards for superb 2018 UIM racing season", Powerboat Racing World, 24 March 2019.
- ^ a b c "Erik Stark racing career", F1H2O, 2016.
- ^ "About Erik Stark", ErikStarkRacing.com.
- ^ "F2 World Championship Results 2011", F2 World Championship, 2011.
- ^ "F2 World Championship Results 2012", F2 World Championship, 2012.
- ^ "F2 World Championship Results 2013", F2 World Championship, 2013.
- ^ "F2 World Championship Results 2014", F2 World Championship, 2014.
- ^ "F1H2O World Championship Standings 2014", F1H2O, 2014.
- ^ "F1H2O World Championship Standings 2015", F1H2O, 2015.
- ^ "F1H2O World Championship Standings 2016", F1H2O, 2016.
- ^ "F1H2O World Championship Standings 2017", F1H2O, 2017.
- ^ "F1H2O World Championship Standings 2018", F1H2O, 2018.
- ^ "F1H2O World Championship Standings 2019", F1H2O, 2019.