Montreal, New York on new-look Formula E calendar

By Alan Baldwin

(Reuters) – New York is set to host the final round of the Formula E electric series next season on a calendar that includes five new venues, a degree of uncertainty and the absence of a race in London.

The 14 races will be staged in 12 cities, starting with Hong Kong in October, and a pair in both Montreal and New York in July 2017.

The New York round was accompanied by three asterisks, depending on track approval and local administrative authorization.

No details of the venue location were provided.

Formula E’s second season ends this weekend in London’s Battersea Park but the series has agreed not to use the riverside venue in future after opposition from local residents.

There are ambitious plans to take the race to the city streets but the obstacles could be formidable and as yet no alternative venue has been agreed.

Two slots in April and June were left open as “to be Announced”, however.

There will also be a special event in Las Vegas in January.

The city of Marrakech in Morocco brings Africa into the series while Brussels is another new race.

Formula One has long coveted a New York race, with a Grand Prix in New Jersey listed on the provisional 2014 calendar before disappearing, but electric racing hopes to get there first with a quieter and more city friendly format.

Formula E chief executive Alejandro Agag told Reuters that the New York ePrix would likely have the Manhattan skyline as a backdrop, rather than being in the city center.

“Manhattan has good and bad things. The good thing is you are in Manhattan, the bad thing is that you cannot see the skyline because you are under the skyline,” he said.

“Some locations across the water have a much better view of what New York gives. And we like to show the cars and the landmarks.”

Beijing hosted the season opener last year and Agag promised the race in central Hong Kong would be spectacular.

“It’s going to be massive,” he said. “We are just right at the heart of that amazing city with that incredible harbor. I think the images from that race are going to be all over the world.”

(Editing by Ed Osmond)