Balloch powerboat racer opens up on incredible year mixing with A-listers and competing worldwide

Balloch powerboat racer Oban Duncan says mixing with A-listers and competing all across the world has been a special experience.

Just one round of the pioneering E1 electric powerboat racing series remains with Oban – who races for former Chelsea striker Didier Drogba’s team – having recently returned from the penultimate round at Lake Como in Italy.

Reflecting on the season so far, the multiple British champion said: “Overall we aren’t doing as well as we wanted in the points. But it’s been an incredible year. 12 months ago I didn’t imagine I’d have raced in as many countries as I have.

“Nobody knows what’s around the corner, so it’s amazing to have stood on the podium in Monaco and raced in Venice.

“I’ve met all sorts of amazing people – Will Smith and Rafael Nadal were there at Como. That was a very new experience for us. The season has been great and I can’t fault the experience for us. It’s something I didn’t ever imagine experiencing.”

Como was a frustrating round for Oban and teammate Yousef Al Abdulrazzaq, with the duo missing out on a place in the final – but Oban winning the place race.

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She continued: “It didn’t start well. We didn’t qualify as high as we wanted to, but we did get a good group for the semi-final, which is the most important thing you want out of that.

“My semi-final was a bit messy because one of the Team Miami drivers took out a buoy.

“So it ended up being a two-boat race. But there was no procedure on how to do a restart, so that was sort of made up.

“I had to start five seconds behind the boat in front, and in the Racebirds when you get behind a boat there’s no way of getting back in front.

“I finished second in the semi-final and Youssef early started in his. So he got an additional long lap penalty and finished third, which meant we didn’t make the final.

“I went back out for the place race which we won. So we ended the weekend on a high, but it was a bit annoying because we knew that we should’ve been in the final and were more than quick enough to make that.

“Winning the place race showed that we could be fast if we could get out in front and lead.

“I was really determined and drove to win it. There was no pressure, we weren’t in the final and we always seem to do well in the place race. But it is annoying, because we shouldn’t be there.”

And with the final venue still up in the air, Oban hopes that she will be able to put her experience from the opening round to good use if a return to Saudi Arabia is on the cards.

She added: “It’s not confirmed but there are talks of a Saudi race at the end of November or start of December that will be the last of the year. But it’s still up in the air at this stage.

“It’s a long time to be out of the boat. But if they need to get shipped to Saudi then that will take about six to eight weeks, it’s a bit of a shame that there won’t be more time for testing because everytime we get in the boat we get better.

“But we learnt a lot at the first round in Saudi. We didn’t start the season well, but we know where we went wrong and how to fix it.

“We know what worked in Monaco and how to get a good result to end the season.”