An all-new electric scooter series called the eSkootr Championship has been launched and is set to start racing in 2021.
The championship aims to showcase the potential of micro-mobility in urban areas and will see riders compete at speeds of upto 100kph around city tracks on specially developed electric racing scooters.
In addition, the series will combine the cost-effectiveness of micro-mobility, with the sustainability and growth of all-electric mobility.
“After seeing the potential for the growth of micro-mobility and eScooters, we spent several years developing a concept and vision for the Electric Scooter Championship,” co-founder and COO Khalil Beshir said.
“More recently, the coronavirus has further developed the conversation about how we can do things better; how we can make effective, meaningful change that has a positive impact on our cities and the people around us.
“In creating the eSC, we wanted to celebrate the concept of mobilising cities and liberating people who have been trapped within a transport system that no longer properly works. By aligning that with a new category of motorsport – one that works for both participants and audience – we feel we can accelerate a collective conversation about mobility that will take us far into the future.
“When we go racing next year, it will be as a means to change motorsport and mobility forever.”
Fellow co-founder and CEO Hrag Sirkassian also explained how the inspiration for eSC came from a history of mobility innovations beginning in motorsport.
“Exploring the future landscape of mobility through motorsport is a fascinating concept – particularly in a post-coronavirus world,” he said.
“In defining the initial goals of the Electric Scooter Championship, we quickly realised that the notion of a pioneering, innovative and fully sustainable category was a real and interesting proposition.
“The eSC will define how micro-mobility and motor racing could and should work together, not only by making the partnership wholly environmentally sustainable, but by also using it to dynamically fast-track concepts and ideas that can reframe mobility for every level of society.
“We go racing with purpose because we can explore the concepts of innovation and sustainability and because we can drive this exciting new conversation forwards.”
One of the major benefits the series hopes to benefit from is the wide range of disciplines where competitors can apply their skills, whether it be cycling, snowboarding, skating, racing drivers, motorcycle riders and even eSports.
In a major boost, the eSkootr Championship has also gained support from two well-known motorsport names, ex-Formula 1 driver and current Formula E driver Lucas di Grassi and GPDA chairman Alex Wurz.
“As the world increasingly looks to sport for leadership in social responsibility, we’re also seeing a growing requirement for conventional motorsport to adapt, develop and diversify,” Di Grassi commented.
“The concept of a new series, operating on a global scale with professional participants, yet running with a carbon-zero footprint and offering solutions for a better, more mobile society is a fascinating glimpse toward a more accessible and sustainable way to go racing,”
“As we’ve already seen with Formula E, there is considerable scope for disruption within the electric mobility space – both on and off the track. And, as the discussion around micro-mobility grows, the Electric Scooter Championship is perfectly placed to amplify the benefits of clean, sustainable transport solutions within our everyday lives.
“This is the start of real – and important – growth for micro-mobility within motorsport.”
Wurz added: “The world is changing, and everything in our society reflects that dynamic change – whether it is anticipated or unexpected.
“Of course, motorsport is not removed from that conversation, and we’ve already seen ways in which the sport has started to develop in order to better serve both its competitors and its audience.
“With eSC, we’ve taken that scalability to an extreme, creating a series that can operate from a tiny footprint yet still work as an accelerant for meaningful change within the world’s leading cities.
“As a racer, I want to create a series that has all the thrill and intensity of the motorsport series we all grew up with, but with the costs and responsibility that make it accessible and appealing to everyone. This is the next step we need to take, and it’s the start of a really exciting journey.”
