First supposed to take place on July 1st, the Brussels e-prix has been cancelled by the Brussels government.
One week after Berlin’s decision not to host the Berlin e-Prix at the Alexanderplatz, it is now Brussels’ turn to turn down the location of the e-prix which was supposed to take place around the Elisabeth park at Koekelberg.
There are three main reasons to explain this decision by the government of Brussels. The first one is a problem of organisation of the city centre as the e-prix should have happened during the first week-end of summer break and the first day of sales, which imply a lot of car circulation in one of the busiest cities of Europe.
Alongside it, some neighbours associations have gathered to denounce the sound nuisances and the ecological impact the race would have on the Elisabeth park. The city of Brussels was also septic about the economic cost of hosting such an event. Rudi Vervoort, the president minister of the region Bruxelles Capitale comments for RTL:
“It seems safer to say two things: it is not possible on this circuit in 2017 although we remain disposed to lead this project in the future in the most adapted place possible in the most adapted time possible.”
Vervoort does not exclude the possibility of an e-prix at Heysel, which was the first place proposed to host Formula E, if they get the financial backing they were supposed to get.
With Berlin and Brussells out of the calendar, the Formula E 2017 season only has 6 rounds remaining with only two in Europe in Paris and Monaco. If Jérôme D’Ambrosio has to give up on his home e-race, Maro Engel has one problem off his shoulders as the Brussels e-prix was the only Formula E round to clash with DTM in which he is involved with Mercedes.
