Luanda, Angola, 13 September 2026 – Westbrook Racing by Visit Angola leaves the inaugural E1 Luanda GP with mixed emotions after a landmark home weekend in the Angolan capital combined an exceptional welcome and strong qualifying performance with a frustrating race day affected by technical issues.
The fifth round of the 2026 UIM E1 World Championship presented by PIF marked a significant moment for Westbrook Racing by Visit Angola, competing for the first time in front of its home crowd since Visit Angola became the Team’s title partner earlier this year.
Throughout the weekend, the Team received tremendous support from Visit Angola, including representatives from the Angolan Government and Luanda Provincial Government across tourism, culture, environment and sustainability, as well as representatives from Angola’s space programme and other national institutions. The weekend provided an important platform for Westbrook Racing by Visit Angola to strengthen relationships in the country and demonstrate how the partnership extends beyond racing into tourism promotion, sustainability and business engagement.
Another highlight was the presence of Team Owner Will Smith, who joined Westbrook Racing by Visit Angola in Luanda on Sunday. His attendance and support during a particularly challenging race day provided another strong demonstration of his commitment to the Team and to the E1 Championship.
The inaugural Luanda event presented unusual operational challenges for the entire E1 paddock, with essential equipment delayed in transit and unavailable when teams arrived in Angola. Westbrook Racing by Visit Angola worked intensively with E1 and its technical partners to secure the minimum equipment required to become operational and ensure the Team could compete in front of its home crowd.
The logistical situation also resulted in changes to the sporting schedule, with the programme compressed across Saturday and Sunday. Limited practice running on Saturday meant Sara Price and Lucas Ordóñez had little opportunity to familiarise themselves with the Luanda course before moving into qualifying.
Despite those circumstances, Westbrook Racing by Visit Angola delivered a strong qualifying performance. The Team secured third position in qualifying, adding one Championship point and keeping the pressure on Championship leader Team Brady heading into Sunday.
Sunday proved considerably more difficult. Competing in the Team’s opening Group Stage race, Sara Price suffered a major technical failure involving a significant powertrain component, forcing her to retire from the race. Despite the Team’s efforts to find a solution, the combination of the extent of the failure, limited spare parts available on site and the compressed timetable meant that the Westbrook Racing by Visit Angola RaceBird could not be repaired in time for the Team’s second Group Stage race.
In a strong demonstration of sporting cooperation within the E1 paddock, Team AlUla championed by LeBron James offered Westbrook Racing by Visit Angola the use of its RaceBird, allowing Lucas Ordóñez to compete later in the afternoon.
With almost no preparation time on unfamiliar equipment, Ordóñez pushed hard to keep the Team’s hopes of progressing alive. He delivered the fastest lap of the race, earning an additional Championship point, but narrowly missed the result required to progress to the Finals.
Westbrook Racing by Visit Angola therefore concluded the E1 Luanda GP in ninth position. Team Brady went on to secure its first victory of the season and leaves Angola leading the Championship with 157 points, with Westbrook Racing by Visit Angola second on 117 points.
The result increases the gap between the two teams to 40 points, but the Championship remains open heading into the season finale in Miami, which will feature E1’s first-ever double-header on 13-14 November 2026.
Phil Allen, Team Principal of Westbrook Racing by Visit Angola, said: “Of course, we’re extremely disappointed with the sporting result today, particularly because this was our home race and we came here determined to deliver something special for Visit Angola, our partners and everyone who supported us throughout the weekend. We knew it was going to be a challenging event operationally, with the compressed schedule and limited equipment available, but the whole Team worked incredibly hard to put us in a position to race, and qualifying third on Saturday showed the performance was there. Unfortunately, today we suffered a major technical failure on Sara’s boat which was beyond our control and ended her race. With the parts and time available, there was simply no possibility to repair the RaceBird before our next Group Stage race. I want to personally thank Team AlUla for the tremendous sporting gesture of making their boat available to us so Lucas could race. He had virtually no time to adapt to different equipment but pushed all the way, set the fastest lap and came incredibly close to getting us through to the Finals. Sport can be tough and today was one of those days, but this weekend has also reminded us why our relationship with Angola is so important. The welcome and support we have received from Visit Angola, our partners, the authorities and the people here has been exceptional, and having Will with us today meant a great deal to the entire Team. We leave Luanda disappointed, but certainly not defeated. There are two races in Miami and a lot of Championship points still available. We know what this Team is capable of, we’ve already won twice this season, and we’ll regroup, learn from this weekend and go to Miami ready to fight until the very end.”
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