by Hayati Nupus
JAKARTA, June 6 (Xinhua) -- Hot weather in Jakarta, capital city of Indonesia, did not dampen the enthusiasm of spectators watching Round 9 of the 2021-22 FIA Formula E World Championship, the world's leading electric racing series, at the Jakarta International e-Prix Circuit (JIEC) in Ancol on Saturday afternoon.
With Formula E staging a race in Southeast Asia for the first time, the Jakarta ePrix sold out its 22,000 tickets. Spectators saw Mitch Evans of Jaguar Racing win the race, with Jean-Eric Vergne of DS Techeetah and Edoardo Mortara of Venturi rounding out the top three.
Firdaus Fauzan and Muhammad Faturrahman, students from Indonesia's West Java province, saved up for months to attend the race, after they failed to watch the MotoGP at Mandalika, on Lombok Island, last March, because they could not afford to buy plane tickets and rent accommodation.
"So, here we are now, in the midst of Formula E," they said proudly.
Ganjar Prabowo, 39, brought his wife and two children to watch the Jakarta ePrix, as the country recovers from a third wave of COVID-19. He also used this opportunity to introduce his children to environmental learning.
"We explained to them that these cars use environmentally-friendly electrical energy, not gasoline, the energy that will be depleted in this world," he said.
Launched in 2014, Formula E is the world's leading racing series for electric cars, and was granted world championship status in 2020. This season's rosters includes a number of drivers who have raced in Formula 1, including Pascal Wehrlein, Lucas di Grassi and Stoffel Vandoorne.
Chief Competition Officer and Co-Founder of Formula E, Alberto Longo, said that the Jakarta race presented a different atmosphere compared to other Formula E races.
"Before, we raced on the streets, not on a circuit. However, this time we held the race at an inner city circuit, which became the core of Formula E. This circuit is wider than the normal track and has many obstacles," he said.
Eco-friendly facilities adorned the bazaar area on the western side of the circuit. People filled their bottles with drinking water from available dispensers. Those without bottles could fill up into clear, biodegradable cups made from corn husks.
After handing the trophy to the winners, Indonesia's president Joko Widodo said the event was a spectacle of the future.
"We know that there will be a shift from current cars to electric cars, so this is a spectacle that will be more popular in the future," said Widodo.
He added that Indonesia was currently building an ecosystem for the electric vehicle industry, from nickel, smelters and lithium batteries to electric cars. "Everything is moving forward to be environmentally-friendly," he added, noting that in the future there would be more electric vehicle racing events.
