Table Mountain a perfect backdrop for Formula E
The backdrop of Table Mountain is being viewed as a welcome addition to
the Formula E world series for 2022 and it joins New York’s Statue of Liberty
and the Eiffel Tower in Paris as iconic landmarks hosting the mainly street
race competition.
In early
July it was announced that Cape Town would become the first Southern African
city to host the all-electric Formula E racing series, joining a host of the
world’s most iconic cities to present the ABB FIA Formula World Championship.
The announcement
was made by the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) in Geneva
following the scheduled meeting to approve the calendar and by Formula E
Operations.
The
panel included South African Gary Ekerold, the Jaguar Racing Formula E Team Sporting
Manager, together with Formula E Co-Founder and CEO Alberto Longo and key representatives
of the e-Movement team.
Jaguar South
Africa, Founding Partner to the Formula E Cape Town E-Prix bid, supported the
drive to host the first Formula E event in Cape Town.
Gary Ekerold,
Sporting Manager Jaguar Racing, says: “On behalf of Jaguar Racing and the five
South Africans involved directly in our team, we’d like to say congratulations
to Formula E, e-Movement and obviously Jaguar South Africa as Founding Partner
to this bid.
“Cape Town
has put itself in Pole Position to have its share of global tourism, and
hopefully this will have positive implications for its economy. It’s been a
long time since South Africa has hosted an FIA World Championship single seater
racing event [since the 1993 South African Grand Prix], so to go back there and
show Cape Town all about e-mobility and electric racing is absolutely
fantastic”
Alberto
Longo, Formula E Co-Founder and CEO, added: “South
Africa ticks the box of every single thing we need in order to host a race of
Formula E. To start with I’m
sure you’re aware we race in the heart of the biggest cities in the world.
“We want to go to iconic venues that you can really identify very
quickly in one shot on TV, and I think this is one of the main reasons we are
in South Africa – because they really offer us one of the best, most amazing
locations that we will ever do a race at. Having Table Mountain as a backdrop
which is a landmark of the city, the sea, the stadium, I think we are going to
be able to put a fantastic event up there.
“And then the passion of South Africans, the heritage of motor sport
there, they just love motor sports. I think it’s a place where every serious
and professional motor sport series must do an event. Without saying we have
amazing partners there, amazing promoters, and the city has expressed an
interest in hosting an event there for a long time, so all the things that
needed to happen in order for us to decide on a new venue happened in South
Africa”.
Support
for the event, both in South Africa and internationally, underlines the role of
hosting Formula E races in driving economic development, especially in tourism
where it is invigorating the events sector, and providing much-needed job opportunities.
The
event also provides an opportunity for Cape Town and the country to demonstrate
its environmental, commercial, and technological credentials on a global scale.
Formula E is seen as a catalyst for innovation, investment, and job creation in
the much-needed e-mobility and sustainable energy space.
Iain Banner, Co-Founder and Chairman of e-Movement, says: “South
Africans can look forward to a week-long festival of events and activities
celebrating sustainability. The race is what I call the celebration. But we’ve
come up with what we are calling the e-Fest. And the e-Fest is a five-day
program around sustainability and eMobility. So, we’ll have a two-day
conference of eMobility where we’ll have all things ‘E’ from one-wheelers to
bicycles, possibly even a plane and a boat to showcase to the public what ‘E’
is all about both now and going into the future.
“We’ve also got a golf tournament which Ernie Els is hosting for us
where our drivers and team principals will play with sponsors and others in the
eco-system. And then very importantly we’ve got a climate change summit where
we’ll be talking about all things sustainable. And a big initiative in taking
this to Cape Town is not only to race, but to grow the economy and promote
eBusiness as well.
Cape Town
Mayor Dan Plato is just as enthusiastic.
“Cape Town
is pleased to be chosen as one of the cities to participate in the Formula E
tournament. The event will unlock major investment, job creation and tourism
potential through identifying Cape Town as the racing destination of the
African continent. We look forward to working towards this event. The City has
the necessary infrastructure and skills to host an event of this size and we
are confident that the event will further cement Cape Town’s global reputation
as the World’s Leading Festival and Event Destination.”
Since its
inception in 2014, Formula E has attracted millions of viewers, drawn to the
excitement of cars racing the downtown streets of some of the world’s most picturesque
cities at speeds of up to 280 km/h.
Local
broadcasters, Supersport and SABC, have committed to promoting the event and
have already started to broadcast the Season 7 races in South Africa.
The
ABB FIA Formula E World Championship actively promotes electric mobility and
alternative energy solutions to contribute to reducing air pollution, which the
World Health Organisation estimates kills more than seven million people a
year. Electric vehicles provide one of the most effective solutions to reduce carbon
air pollution.
