The goal of the eSkootr Championship is to promote secure micromobility

Organizers of the world’s first electric scooter series say they are on a mission to promote and develop micromobility as a safe and integrated component of city life after making its race debut in London.

Khalil Bachir, a co-founder of the eSkootr Championships, saw a role similar to that of motorsport in the early days of automobiles.

“Yes, we’re making a new game, we’re making an accessible game,” the Lebanese entrepreneur and former car racer told Reuters ahead of Saturday’s race.

“At the same time, we have a mission to help governments, cities, create safe riders and work with cities on the right way to use these scooters.” The number of electric scooters on city streets four or five years ago.

“People complained about them, hated them when they came to town: ‘They’re not safe, they’re everywhere’,” he said. “We use racing as a lab, security, infrastructure, technology.

“This is the goal of eSC – to develop it, as it has done with motorsport and the Formula One car industry.”
Alex Urz, a former Austrian F1 racer and two-time Le Mans 24 Hours winner and chairman of the Grand Prix Drivers Association (GPDA), is a co-founder with former Brazil Formula E champion Lucas de Gracie.

Formula One veteran Nico Hulkenberg has a team and a lot of people in the background with links to the International Automobile Federation (FIA), the world motorsport organization.

The series, however, formed its own commission, led by Wurz, with a stated goal of “controlling and promoting the safe and sustainable development of sports and urban micromobility.”

“We think we have a really strong product,” Wurz, who first started working on the concept in 2018, told Reuters at the print site of a former newspaper in the Docklands, London, which hosted the first race.

“We have a huge opportunity for grassroots sports where you can find the cheapest motorsport entry and then the career ladder at the world championship level.

“In addition to our sporting ambitions, from the first minute I said that micromobility is a hot, fast-growing issue and we have an obligation to create a balance between sector, racing and road safety.”

Speed ​​Restrictions Insurers see e-scooters to be inherently more dangerous than bikes or cars, while trial projects for e-scooter suppliers in some cities have speed limitations and stricter regulations.

In London, electric scooters are a common sight but currently only legal on private land or through approved rental schemes, although the government has said it plans new rules to expand use.

Wurz said it was “mind blowing” how many interested cities and stakeholders approached eSC, and he hoped it would have an impact on urban design. “The way we’re moving is changing fundamentally,” he added.

“In the future some of our roads will actually become places to live, a shared space where you can walk, some will ride bicycles, some will ride electric scooters and we will have to coexist.” And we can. This is the journey – educating people, controlling them, creating engineering. How we are isolated but still together. The law needs to be consistent. “

The eSkootr machines, raced by 30 riders from 10 teams, weigh about 40 kg and have two six-kilowatt motors with a maximum speed of over 100 kph.

The tires are made from vegetable oil and allow grip male and female riders – from snowboarding and speed skating to hockey, cycling and motorbike sports – to tilt at a 60 degree angle.

The opening winners around the 12-turn 470m course were ahead of Swiss rider Mattis Nairwood, Britain’s Dan Brooks and India’s Anish Shetty.

Other races will follow in Switzerland, Italy, France, Spain and the United States. Asia and Africa are likely to join from next season.

A global broadcasting agreement has been signed to show the race to more than 200 countries on the sports streaming platform DAZN.

“It simply came to our notice then. Those of you who have told me about it and those who have seen it think it will be very interesting and fun, “said Trey White, a former BMX World Championships bronze medalist from Britain. “I liked it straight away.”