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Cape Town goes electric! City to host Formula E round
The city is included as a host city of the ABB FIA tournament in February 2022, making it the first FIA World Championship single-seater race in South Africa since 1993
Jaguar and bid partner e-Movement have announced that Cape Town has been included as a host city for a round of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship in February 2022.
The announcement was made this week by the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) in Geneva following a scheduled meeting to approve the Season 8 calendar by Formula E Operations. As the founding partner to e-Movement, Jaguar South Africa supported the bid to host the first Formula E event in Cape Town.
“This is a historic first for our country and Jaguar South Africa is ecstatic to have been part of the team to secure Formula E for Cape Town and South Africa,” says Richard Gouverneur, managing director of Jaguar Land Rover South Africa.
Iain Banner, chairman of e-Movement, promoters of the Cape Town leg of the World Championship, said: “We are delighted and honoured to be included on the calendar after two years of bidding to make this dream a reality.”
e-Movement has been working closely with the City of Cape Town to finalise processes so that all the requirements can be met to stage a successful event early in 2022. The news is seen as a counter-Covid-19 measure to boost South Africa’s identity globally, revive the Cape Town economy, and re-establish Cape Town as a leading tourist amd events destination.
The Cape Town round will be the first FIA World Championship single-seater race in South Africa since the 1993 South African Grand Prix.
Jaguar Racing team director,James Barclay says: “On a personal level, having grown up in South Africa, I’m incredibly excited to be racing in my home country with the team. For Jaguar the announcement is very welcome as South Africa is an important market.”
Cape Town mayor Dan Plato says the event will unlock major investment, job creation and tourism potential through identifying Cape Town as the racing destination on the African continent.
“We look forward to working toward this event,” he says. “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 Cap Town’s global reputation as the World’s Leading Festival and Event Destination.”
