Electric vehicles deliver 100% of their torque instantaneously. A Formula E car weighs just 800kg. They don’t run enormous tyres and the motor spins to over 17,000 rpm. They are brutally tail happy. I’m watching half motor race, half drifting exhibition. And it’s a fantastic show.
Not a motorsport fan? Who cares, right? Well, perhaps you should. All Formula E races are held on the streets of the most unlikely city centres on Earth. Rome, London, Santiago, Marrakesh, Sanya and of course Hong Kong. Auckland has a potential viaduct Formula E circuit map laid out and there’s a strong push underway to bring Formula E to New Zealand. The reality of it happening is much less of a pipe dream as you might think.
“We race in New York, in Paris, here in Hong Kong," Formula E CEO Alejandro Agag told Kiwi media when we collared him in pit lane.
"I’ve seen the proposed layout and venue, to have Auckland on that list would be great, but we have a lot of cities knocking on the door. If it is to happen, we need to act quickly,” he said.
There’s a very real opportunity to showcase New Zealand as a forward-thinking, vibrant locale to global TV viewers. Compared with other forms of racing, Formula E is relatively noiseless, allowing for a unique party atmosphere that attracts a bevy of new audiences to the sport, like millennial Insta’ influencers. Oh, and the occasional supermodel too, like Naomi Campbell.
If my time with Panasonic Jaguar Racing in Hong Kong has shown me one thing, it’s that this is the new face of motorsport. And I love it.
Words by Steve Vermeulen
Photos by Panasonic Jaguar Racing