Kathmandu, November 14

Larjung in Mustang will host the world famous Formula E race in May 2021.

Being held in five countries across the world, founder and Chairman of Formula E Championship Alejandro Agag said Larjung of Mustang would be one of the five venues for the championship.

Announcing the event in Nepal today, Agag said, “We are here in the heart of the Himalayas to announce that Extreme E will be the first race to ever be staged in the highest mountain range of the world, the Himalayas.”

Initially, Formula E Championship was supposed to be held in India. However, the championship switched to Bhutan following heightened India-Pakistan tensions. Since the Bhutanese topography was not suited for the championship, the event was moved to Nepal, which, according to Agag, is the most suitable place for the event.

Organisers said the championship would also support the Mustang region — which is particularly vulnerable to the effects of the climate crisis due to its large concentration of glaciers.

Formula E was launched in 2014 as the world’s only single-seater electric car race series. Like Formula One, the Formula E is a racing championship with single-seater, open cockpit cars, but the vehicles are entirely battery-powered. While racing electric cars are used worldwide in this race, racing in Nepal will be different as electric SUV vehicles will be allowed.

The event will be organised in coordination with Nepal Tourism Board. Deepak Raj Joshi, chief executive officer of NTB, said the championship would help promote the country’s tourism, particularly sports tourism, across the world.

According to Joshi, a detailed agreement will be signed with the organiser in the near future. He added that 12 teams from across the globe would take part in the race.