FORMULA E COULD RETURN RACING TO STREETS OF BIRMINGHAM
The Mayor of the West Midlands Andy Street says he is in “advanced” negotiations with Formula E about organising a street race that would revive the Birmingham Superprix.
The potential race would form part of FE’S 2018/19 season, the first campaign that will feature the series’ new Gen2 cars.
Street pledged to host a street race in Birmingham as part of his May 2017 election manifesto.
Any event would need to follow the April ’17 amendment to the Road Traffic Act, which allows motorsport events in England to incorporate the use of closed roads.
The Birmingham Superprix was a Formula 3000 and British Touring Car Championship round that took place between 1986 and ’90 using roads around the south of the city centre.
“Over the last year, we have been in negotiations with the organisers of the FIA Formula E Championship about bringing a road race to Birmingham, effectively reviving the Superprix,” said Street.
“We are now in the advanced stages of these negotiations, [and] we are eager for two main reasons.
“Like many Brummies, I remember the original Superprix fondly. Photos and footage from those events have become almost part of folklore and remind us of how those events thrust the city firmly into the spotlight.
“Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, it showcases our region’s position as a world leader in next generation automotive technologies.
“If we are successful in concluding the deal, this Formula E race will take place next summer on a route similar to the one used in the original Superprix.
“Of course, there is still work to do. Birmingham City Council have been supportive in our discussions and we are working towards a deal based on commercial sponsorship.”
FE evaluated adding a race in Birmingham to the end of the current season’s calendar in place of the cancelled doubleheader in Montreal, but the championship was eventually capped at 10 cities hosting 12 races, with Hong Kong and New York as the only two-race events.
Britain has not hosted a FE event since the second London E-prix took place in July 2016 in Battersea Park.
However, Birmingham City Council leader Ian Ward has played down the chances of a race next year.
“This is an interesting idea,” he told the BBC, “but the people of Birmingham would need to be consulted and any announcement before we have heard the views of citizens is premature.”