until Abu Dhabi Autonomous Racing League
The twice cancelled race in South Korean capital Seoul will finally stage rounds of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship next August, and be the final races of the Gen2 FE era.
A double-header event in Seoul was confirmed today by the metropolitan government.
As originally intended when it was first mooted for the 2019/20 season, the races will take place in and around the Jamsil Sports Complex, including the stadium venue for the 1988 Olympic Games by the banks of the Han River.
Plans for South Korea to host a Formula E round stretch back to 2018 when series co-founder Alberto Longo took part in discussions with local promoters.
These were concluded with a deal in November 2018 and the original date for an event was agreed for May of 2020.
This was first postponed and then cancelled during the height of the covid-19 pandemic last year and a plan to try again in May 2021 was ultimately stymied by both travel and health and safety issues in the country.
Now, Formula E and local promoters are confident that the Seoul E-Prix can take place in the summer of 2022 when Seoul plans to relaunch the capital’s tourism festival, Seoul Festa 2022, which is scheduled to run across August 10-14.
“The Seoul E-Prix 2022 is the most efficient event to attract people and money from all over the world. The Seoul government will spare no effort to make the expected economic effects from the two events even greater,” said Seoul mayor Oh Se-hoon.
KPop boy band BTS, which is an honorary ambassador for Seoul tourism and a global ambasador for Formula E, is also expected to help promote the Seoul E-Prix.
“We are delighted to finally have a race in the streets of Seoul but the whole calendar will need to be approved by the World Motorsport Council in July,” said Longo.
“The Mayor Oh Se-hoon and our local partner and local promoter Mr Moon put a lot of effort to include the Seoul E-Prix in the street festival called Seoul Festa and we are extremely grateful to be part of it.”
Formula E is preparing to submit a draft calendar to the FIA’s world motorsport council next month. It is believed to be targeting at least 16 races and The Race understands that the season is likely to start in Riyadh this December.
New E-Prixs in Vancouver and Cape Town are expected to be on the schedule, while races in Rome, London, Berlin, New York, Santiago and Mexico City are set to stay.
Plans to try to ensure the Monaco E-Prix can become an annual event are believed to still be under discussion, while the reactivation of the Paris E-Prix is also being negotiated, as is a date for the previously cancelled plans for the Indonesian capital city of Jakarta.
A second US race on the west coast could also feature. The Race understands that Dragon Penske boss Jay Penske is involved in trying to get a host city in California for a race as early as summer 2022.
