Birmingham revved up for return of Superprix after 30 years

The region’s Mayor, Andy Street has revealed he is in advanced stages of talks to bring electric car racing series Formula E to Birmingham for the 2019 season.

Formula E has not staged a race in Britain since the London ePrix dropped off the calendar in 2016, while the West Midlands has not hosted a race since the 1990 Superprix.

Mr Street, who pledged to bring racing back in his mayoral manifesto, said today: “We are in the final stage of negotiations with Formula E to bring racing to the West Midlands.

“Formula E is all about electric cars and one of the reasons we want to do this so much is that electric cars are going to play a critical part in the future of the West Midlands economy.

“It fits in with the big story. We want to showcase our region to the world, and this will enable us to join the series alongside Rome, Paris, Berlin, Zurich, New York... world leading cities who also have a race in the calendar.

“I am hoping we will seal the deal in the next few weeks. Negotiations have gone well and I am very confident.”

WATCH: Do you remember the Birmingham Superprix?

Youtube footage: lemanslegend

The electric vehicle industry is centred in the West Midlands, with Coventry housing an £80 million national battery development facility, and Kingswinford-based Westfield Sports Cars producing autonomous electric pods.

In March, Formula E founder Alejandro Agag revealed Birmingham was the number one choice to add its name to the schedule after Montreal, Canada, announced it was pulling out.

He said: “We need to grow the following a lot more in the UK.

“We have got to have a race there. London is tricky. We don’t have any kind of opening there so there is no chance of that happening at the moment.

“We are open to other cities and we are talking to Birmingham about doing something. Birmingham is firm favourite.”

Formula E is the highest class of competition for electrically powered vehicles, with cars reaching speeds of up to 140mph – around 100mph slower than Formula One cars.

It started in 2014 with 11 races in 10 different host cities.

The 2017-18 renewal saw 12 rounds of racing.

WATCH: Could the dramatic racing of Formula E be heading to the Midlands?

Youtube footage: Formula E

The Birmingham Superprix Formula 3000 ran from 1986 to 1990. The course started on the A38 and ran anti-clockwise on the A4540.

The pit area was located on the forecourt of the Bristol Street Motors Ford dealership, with garaging for teams and cars housed in a multi-storey car park.