Formula E gears up for Hong Kong debut

Championship brings thrills and delivers hope for cleaner environment

Hong Kong motorsports enthusiasts are set for a treat, and a near-noiseless one at that, as the fully-electric Formula E Championship comes to the city for the first time on Saturday.

It will be the biggest motorsports event ever held in Hong Kong and it is estimated that about 40,000 spectators will watch the two-day event, which will see drivers race through Admiralty and Central in the very heart of the city. Tickets for Sunday's formal racing are sold out, with VIP tickets selling for as much as HK$13,000.

Some of the remaining tickets for Saturday's galaxy of fun events, including a charity pre-event race which will see stars from film and TV duel it out in a fully-electric sedan car race, will go on sale at around 9:30 am on Saturday, according to the event organizer, the International Automobile Federation.

Gilles Normand, senior vice-president and Asia Pacific chairman of Renault, which sponsors the Formula E Championship, said it has brought the trend of green, environmentally-friendly driving to motorsports, though absolute silence is still not possible.

Normand believes the championship provides a valuable testing ground for new technologies that will eventually benefit zero emission vehicles.

The championship, introduced in 2014, will see 40 high-speed cars from 10 teams competing on the city's zigzagging roads near Central's harbor front.

French driver Nicolas Prost from Renault e. Dams - Renault's Formula E team - which has won the Constructors' Championships for the last two seasons, told China Daily he hopes to improve on last year's performance.

"Last season, I finished third in the Drivers' Championship, so I hope I can do better this year," he said.

He revealed that his father, Formula One legend Alain Prost, has been a good role model for him. "He never pushed me to be a driver, but in the end, it happened like that," he said. "I wanted to do something similar, and I wanted to be as good as him."

Normand said that unlike at other motorsports events, the noise issue has never been a concern with Formula E due to the cars' super-efficient, near-silent engines.

It is for this reason that races can take place in city centers rather than on the outskirts.

"Our drivers compete on temporary street tracks laid out in the center of hosting cities," Normand explained. "Fans can enjoy the race in the city areas, instead of miles away from downtown."

Apart from being a captivating motorsports event, the Formula E Championship aims to provide a platform to showcase electric vehicles and stimulate discussions about clean energy and global environmental sustainability, according to its official website.

In its two-year history, the championship has visited some of the world's leading cities, including Buenos Aires, Mexico City, Monaco, Paris, Berlin and New York.

yinzeli@chinadailyhk.com