Everything Ready for the 2022 New York City ePrix
In just a few weeks, Formula E racers will come to The Big Apple to compete in the annual New York City ePrix.
Formula E, which features only electric-powered vehicles, opened its doors eight years ago. The company, which has been a great success up to this point, is about to complete its eighth season.
The New York City ePrix will be held at the Brooklyn Street Circuit (located in the Red Hook part of Brooklyn). The ePrix will serve as the 11th and 12th rounds of the 2021-22 Formula E World Championship schedule, with only two events remaining on the schedule afterwards.
Those events are the London ePrix (July 30-31) at ExCeL London (in London, England) and the first ever Seoul ePrix at the Seoul Street Circuit (in Seoul, South Korea), which will run on Aug. 13-14. The Marrakesh ePrix at the Circuit de Monaco (in La Condamine and Monte Carlo,) will be held two weeks before the New York City ePrix on July 2.
Having launched in The Empire State in January, New York now offers betting apps that allow you to place wagers on a wide range of sports such as football, hockey, basketball, baseball, soccer and auto racing. The sports betting economy has been a giant boom in New York, as residents of the state have already placed more than $6 billion worth of sports wagers
Through these sportsbooks, customers can also play popular casino games online such as poker, blackjack, slots and roulette. Caesars and BetMGM are offering new customers in New York risk-free bets of up to $1,500 and $1,000, respectively.
The Favorites
35-year-old Sam Bird currently sits 12th in the Formula E driver standings with 30 points, but he has to be considered one of the main favorites to win this year’s event.
That’s because Bird has dominated the New York City ePrix since the race was introduced in 2017. Bird won both races in 2017, the second race in last year’s event (Maximilian Günther won the first race).
Bird is the only Formula E racer to have won this event multiple times. The Roehampton, Greater London native has made an ice home at the Brooklyn Street Circuit, and regardless of where he lies in the Formula E standings, you simply can’t rule out his chances of sitting atop the podium yet again.
Belgium’s Stoffel Vandoorne of the Mercedes-EQ team currently leads the Formula E standings with 121 points. The 30-year-old hasn’t yet won the New York City ePrix, but he’s obviously going to be in the running for the 2022 crown.
Jean-Éric Vergne of France is right behind Vandoorne in the Formula E standings with 116 points. Vergne won the second round of the 2018 New York City ePrix, with Lucas di Grassi of Brazil emerging victorious in the first round.
Vergne is five points behind Vandoorne with 116. Vergne has just missed out on the leaderboard in several races throughout the 2021-22 season, but perhaps the New York City ePrix will finally mark his breakthrough.
The 32-year-old Vergne finished second in the Rome ePrix (behind Mitch Evans of New Zealand), third in the Monaco ePrix (Vandoorne and Evans finished first and second, respectively) and second in the Jakarta ePrix (won by Evans).
Sitting in third place on the driver standings is Edoardo Mortara of Switzerland (114 points). Mortara, who competes on the ROKiT Venturi Racing squad, is just one tournament victory away from seriously inching closer towards the first place prize.
Evans figures to be in the running for the New York City ePrix, given his recent string of victories and finishes near the top of the leaderboard.
Evans sits just 12 points behind Vandoorne in the standings. Strong finishes at the Jakarta and New York City ePrix tournaments could go a long way in closing the gap for first place. Evans is seven points behind Vergne for second and five behind Mortara for third.
As previously mentioned, Bird won both races in the inaugural 2017 tournament.
Sébastien Buemi of Switzerland won the first race in the 2019 event, and Robin Frijns of the Netherlands claimed the second one. The 2020 event was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
