After having the Montreal E-Prix of Canada in the 2016-17 season, Formula E will return to North American lands. This time a double race event would take place in Vancouver in July 2022.
The Vancouver City Council voted 9-1 in favor of partnering with Canadian Formula E promoter One Stop Strategy Group (OSS Group) who were also involved in launching the 2019 Bern race in Switzerland.
Matthew Carter, chief executive officer of OSS Group indicated that Formula E approached them in order to carry out a race in Canada and between both parties they concluded that Vancouver was the best option, however the former Lotus team director Formula 1 added that it was not just a couple of racing events.
For Carter, three components with a business conference, concerts and races is something unique that will probably give the Formula E more chances to offer the electric series to more and more cities in the world.
“It is a very different proposition to a normal Formula E race,” he added.
The motion of the city council indicated that the intention of the double event was for the recovery of the destroyed tourism sector and also affirm the support of the electric series that would also include a conference focused on climate change and sustainability
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“The City of Vancouver has been approached by OSS Group, a private Canadian promoter of the Formula E World Championship, to host a two-day Creative Business Conference focused on climate and sustainability, two music concerts, and a one-day electric vehicle race in False Creek in July 2022, that would generate significant economic benefit to the city and support recovery of the gutted tourism sector,” the motion continued.
OSS Group has been working on the offering for the past two years and is reportedly hoping to reach an agreement for the race to be held for three years. The capacity to host these events would be 56,000 spectators and a “celebrity race” would also be organized.
Importantly, Formula E CEO Jamie Reigle who is also Canadian flew to Vancouver directly after Diriyah’s E-Prix in Saudi Arabia, a double event that opened the 2021 season at the end of February.
Written by | Gabriel Sayago
