Formula E will race on a street track in Rome next year which was previously the site of an abandoned project to hold a Formula One grand prix.
As the graphic about shows, parts of the circuit which will hold the Formula E Rome ePrix are shared with the unused layout intended for the 2012 Rome Grand Prix. Several different plans for an F1 track in Rome were put forward before the proposal was shelved.Formula E’s race will take place in the EUR financial district which would have hosted the Rome Grand Prix. The 2.85-kilometre Circuto Cittadino dell’EUR will be the second-longest track Formula E has raced on. The unused F1 track measured 4.8 kilometres.
The founder and CEO of Formula E Alejandro Agag claimed the race will “engage and entertain the Roman citizens as well as create a number of benefits for the city.” The circuit “looks long and challenging for the drivers”, he added.
The track will hold the seventh race of Formula E’s 14-round 2017-18 season. It will be the championship’s first event in Italy.
Rome’s mayor Virginia Raggi said the city “will benefit from a positive economic impact as other major cities in Europe and around the world have experienced.”
“Formula E will bring investments and benefits to the city with its legacy programme, such as new streets and electric charging stations,” she added. “Our desire is to see more and more vehicles powered by clean energy circulating in Rome, because for our administration – sustainable mobility and safeguarding the environment are extremely important objectives.”
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Gubstar (@gubstar)
19th October 2017, 16:07
Doesnt matter what the layout of the circuit will be, all you will see is concrete and fences. All of the tracks on this calendar are just awful. Awful for racing and awful for spectators. Too short, too narrow, no corners worth noting, very small grandstands. Watching the final races at Battersea was the most underwhelming experience I have ever had at a motorsport event. And for everyone to keep saying that it is the future is living in a dreamland. The electricity has to come from somewhere….. and that place…..oh yes, its coal burning power stations. Unless the charge for the batteries comes from nuclear or wind/solar power stations, especially when it comes to electric road cars, then the whole thing is a sham.
Rant over
Sjordan
19th October 2017, 17:25
I believe the charge for formula e batteries comes from glycerine generators which is clean. I recall reading about it a while ago.
anon
19th October 2017, 19:14
@gubstar, it is always the same lazy comment that is trotted out – that of the “coal fuelled power station”. I presume that you are not aware that there are a number of nations where coal burning power stations are close to being phased out in the next few years? In the UK, for example, the amount of power coming from renewable energy sources comfortably outstrips that of coal, which is on track to be eliminated entirely by 2025 (the amount of power produced by coal is down to 9% and falling).
I know that the current administration in the US wants to ramp up coal production, but currently large chunks of the rest of the world are moving away from coal as a power source. Besides, it has to be said that it is nothing compared to the damage that parts of the oil industry can do (such as the Canadian tar sands or the South American superheavy crude basins).
BigJoe
19th October 2017, 20:55
Save yourself a rant next time.
http://www.gridwatch.templar.co.uk
As you typed, the UK was getting more of its energy from wind than coal. That site doesn’t even monitor all of the wind turbine projects. The UK also has a link to France to buy their surpluss of Nuclear.
graham228221 (@graham228221)
20th October 2017, 17:20
speak for yourself, went both years and I thought it was really good. great value for money when you compare it to most GPs.
ExPatBrit
19th October 2017, 16:33
I understand there are no commercial coal mines in the UK.
Coal hasn’t been used for power stations in the UK since April of this year.
I am old enough to remember coal being delivered to our house, we has poisonous town gas to cook with made from coal. I traveled on steam trains to my grammar school until I was 13.
The air was filthy.
Coal is dead!
The Stone age didn’t come to an end because of government regulations or a shortage of stones.
Formula E needs help, but it has nothing to do with the source of electricity. Formula 1 is also a bit like watching paint dry sometimes.
Baron (@baron)
19th October 2017, 17:47
Amen to that. Anyone who grew up in the era of coal is probably paying the price now (I’m in a wheelchair on oxygen 24/7). Filthy stuff – glad it’s gone. You can add ‘50’s motor cars and Capstan Full Strength to that list too.
anon
19th October 2017, 22:12
@baron, given how persistent and widespread some of the contaminants from coal can be, there might still be some people paying for it now – I’ve known some projects in former industrial centres where people were having to deal with coal tar residues that had been dumped back in the Victorian era and are still contaminating the groundwater table today, such was the amount of coal tar that had been just tipped into the nearest convenient hole in the ground.
You could also add to that list the liberal use of asbestos that is still destroying the health of many people today (and will sadly do so for decades given how long it has taken to bring in restrictions in most countries) and the use of leaded petrol, where there is an argument that the increased levels of lead in the atmosphere due to the heavy use of leaded petrol in that era was a potential cause of the surge in violent crime that a number of nations saw in the 1990’s and 2000’s.
Mr. Nice
19th October 2017, 22:48
Find it interesting that the pitlane doesn’t bracket the start line as is usual for purpose built circuits, and for at least all the current Formula 1 street circuits; is that common in Formula E?