Moscow mayor says Russian capital prepares to host Formula-E race

MOSCOW, April 28. /TASS/. Moscow is preparing to host one of the races of the inaugural Formula E championship in June, Sergey Sobyanin, the mayor of the Russian capital, said on Tuesday.

Formula E is a new FIA single-seater championship and the world's first fully-electric racing series. The very first out of the total of 10 races of the inaugural 2014/2015 season was held on September 13, 2014 in China’s Beijing and the Moscow ePrix has been now scheduled to kick off on June 6, three weeks ahead of the season’s closing race in London on June 27.

"Moscow hosted various races and different events, but racing on electricity-powered cars will be held for the first time," Sobyanin said adding that the race will be held just outside the Kremlin walls.

A total of 10 teams are currently participating in the Formula E championship with two drivers racing for each team. The list of the pilots of the new racing event include the names of such developed racers as Jerome D'Ambrosio, Jarno Trulli, Sebastien Buemi, Nick Heidfeld, Bruno Senna, Nelson Piquet, Jean-Eric Vergne and many others.

The inaugural Formula E season already saw four spectacular races, namely in China’s Beijing, Malaysia’s Putrajaya, Uruguay’s Punta del Este and Argentina’s Buenos Aires, the Unites States’ Miami and Long Beach. The remaining races are scheduled to be held in Monaco (May 9), Berlin (May 23), Moscow (June 6) and London (June 27).

Popularity of auto racing in Russia skyrocketed last year as the country held its inaugural Formula One Grand Prix in the Black Sea resort city of Sochi. Over 166,000 people, including at least 500 high-ranking guests from Russia and abroad, visited Sochi between October 10 and 12 for Russia’s first ever Formula One Grand Prix.

Live television coverage of the race in Sochi, which was provided by Russia’s Rossiya-2 channel, watched 3.4 million people across Russia and it was three times as many comparing with the figure of Russian viewers watching on the average other F1 Grand Prix races.

Less than two months ago Sochi Autodrom, the organizer of the racing event, was awarded the trophy of the Formula One’s best racing track in the 2014 season. The decision to award Sochi the 2014 Race Promoters' Trophy was made at the annual FIA Gala ceremony on December 5, 2014 in Doha, Qatar, and the trophy was officially awarded to Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak by Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone on December 19.

The Race Promoters' Trophy is a rotating award and engraved on it are the names of other F1 best racing tracks starting from 1975. The trophy will remain in Sochi throughout 2015 until the new best racing track will be announced at the end of the next season.

Last October, FIA also issued a license for the Moscow Raceway circuit, a racing track outside the Russian capital, officially confirming the track as suitable for hosting Formula One races.