Some 20,000 tickets dished out for free for races around downtown streets of Central, but many seats were empty on Saturday morning
The Hong Kong leg of the Formula E world championship rolled onto the streets of Central on Saturday morning, but the atmosphere was no match for that seen at similar events in Singapore and Japan, racegoers said, despite 20,000 tickets having been dished out for free.
Many criticised the “ridiculous” prices for seats in the grandstand overlooking the city’s second electric car street race, while others said the venue lacked proper signage and had forced them to take long detours to reach their destinations.
After drawing a mixed reaction last year, the Hong Kong stop in the Formula E calendar has promised double the amount of action this time around, with two races over two days.
But despite perfect weather and the picturesque backdrop of Victoria Harbour, the crowds did not warm up quickly on Saturday morning for arguably the city’s second-biggest annual sporting event after the Hong Kong Sevens.
Only about 1,000 people were spotted at the event’s E-Village in Tamar. A second E-Village was located on the other side of the track near City Hall.
The number was a far cry from the 10,000 free tickets distributed for the zone for each of the two days, which let people watch the race on big screens, meet drivers and visit racing-themed booths.
