Formula E eyes Birmingham
Motorsport could return to Birmingham nearly 30 years after last Superprix
MOTOR racing could be back on the streets of Birmingham for the first time in almost 30 years later this year, it has been reported.
The Autosport website said the city – which famously hosted the Superprix in the 1980s – had been considered as a potential venue for a Formula E meeting, for electric-powered cars, later this year.
The possibility arose after a date in Montreal, Canada, was axed following a change of mayor.
Any Birmingham event would be pencilled in for the end of June, it was reported, although the tight time frame and logistics of creating an allnew racetrack may yet count against it taking place.
Bringing motorsport back to the city’s streets formed part of West Midlands mayor Andy Street’s manifesto before he was elected last year.
He proposed that any revived race would feature the latest electric cars – showcasing Birmingham’s aims to become a world leader in research and development in the field.
The Birmingham Superprix For- mula 3000 event was only made possible by an Act of Parliament.
In November 1984, the Birmingham Road Race Bill allowed it to happen.
The Superprix was first dreamt up in the 1960s by racing fan Martin Hone and wrangles continued for years before the Act gave the goahead for the festivities.
Formula E has not raced in Britain since 2015, when a five-year deal to stage events in London’s Battersea Park was axed following a dispute with park users. There have been consistent calls for road racing to be revived in Birmingham.
Chris Aylett, chief executive of the Motorsport Industry Association, attended the original race and was involved with the On The events in the build-up.
He said in 2011: “I have been all over the world watching road racing and there is an appetite for racing through towns and cities.
“There are many examples – whether it be Long Beach in California, or Sweden or even Beijing.
“It is an accepted way of attracting Streets people and businesses into cities. I have always thought this was an opportunity for the automotive sector in the UK and I think it would be enormously popular.
“I know some local people would be opposed to anything of that nature but if it was suitably counter-balanced it could be a huge success. They ought to be working now to get something like this going in Birmingham.
“Birmingham sits close to the heartland of Motorsports Valley which is a global business cluster with about 4,000 businesses in it – stretching from Norfolk through Birmingham and the West Midlands area through to the south of London.
“Its economic heartland is probably 30 miles south of Birmingham and if there is one city in the world that could benefit from an event like that it’s Birmingham.”