With Formula E visiting Cape Town, the city is charging up to host one of the biggest motorsport events of the year in South Africa.
“The consultation process around the impact of the Formula E event started in 2021 with meetings between ratepayer associations and event organisers,” councillor Nicola Jowell told“The residential properties mainly affected in terms of access to their homes are on Beach and Bay [roads] after the intersection with Surrey Place. All residents are being issued with access permits which will enable them to access the street and their building or designated parking place.
The entire circuit will also be enclosed and lined with blue cement bollards and fencing, which will make viewing the race possible only from the grandstands and designated points within the venue. Formula E is an all-electric, single-seater world championship in which 11 teams with two drivers each compete in races across the world. Like other series, such as Formula 1, drivers compete to be world champion, while collecting as many points as possible for their teams’ bids for the constructor title.
This adds a different strategy element to the racing. Formula E does not have pit stops for tyre replacements – the cars run on the same set throughout a race – so strategising about when to pit, what tyre to put on and making them last until the end is not as important as it is Formula 1. “I think Formula E has been doing a great job of adding new cities and making races happen. I like the trajectory that Formula E is taking to go to new countries and grow the fanbase,” the double world champion noted.
“I remember in season one, they were having to have pit stops to change cars, because the battery wouldn’t last the race distance, whereas now they’re racing 45 minutes, with cars that can do up to 300kmh. So it’s great to see them pushing the limits of this technology.”Nico Müller: The experienced driver is back in Formula E after a two-year spell in DTM, joining ABT on the German team’s comeback to the championship for Gen3.
Jean-Éric Vergne: Vergne made history after he became the first back-to-back champion in Formula E after his title-winning campaigns in 2017/18 and 2018/19. ‘JEV’, as he is known, is still looking for title number three. Nationality: FrenchSébastien Buemi: 2015/16 Drivers’ champion Buemi heads to pastures new after leaving the e.dams stable – a prior Renault and Nissan representative throughout his Formula E career to date – for Envision Racing at the start of the Gen3 era.