DIRIYAH: Street-circuit specialist Edo Mortara has praised Diriyah’s course as “one of my favorite racing tracks of the entire Formula E season” ahead of this weekend’s races, and loves the beauty of the At-Turaif UNESCO World Heritage Site setting.
The 37-year-old Mahindra Racing driver is relishing the next stage of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship in Diriyah on Friday and Saturday, after the opening race of the season in Mexico two weeks ago.
With Diriyah a doubleheader, and both races taking place at night, Mortara feels the Riyadh street circuit is the ideal location to shine.
“Diriyah is a very special racing track,” he said. “I am kind of considered a street-course specialist because I’ve won many times in Macau and other street-racing courses, and I actually feel that Diriyah is quite similar. This is why I like it so much.
“Here, you need to have a nice flow through the corners. And it’s also very important in a street-racing course to be extremely precise, to go very close to the walls. I think that for racing drivers here it’s extremely demanding, it’s very challenging, but I like it.”
The track flows past Diriyah’s 15th century At-Turaif UNESCO World Heritage Site, which showcases Saudi Arabia’s cultural heritage.
“I like actually to see the various historical sites that we have here, and I did visit them when I came on Tuesday. I also visited them last year, and it’s always a pleasure to be here racing in such a historical site. It’s lovely. Obviously when we are getting closer to the race weekend, then we need to be more focused on the racing.”
Over the past five editions of the Diriyah E-Prix, which began in December 2018, around 60 percent of attendees have been under the age of 35, and 35 percent women and girls.
The Swiss-Italian-French national, who this weekend hopes to improve on his 13th place finish in Mexico, said: “Having the races here inspires the next generation. I think that the population here is very young and I believe that fits quite well with our sport and hopefully it can trigger something in the people and motivate them into maybe becoming a racing driver or working in the motorsport environment. This would be great. We are providing entertainment, but maybe we can also provide the inspiration to become a racing driver or engineer or mechanic.
“I mean, I feel extremely lucky to be living and to be working in such a fantastic environment and to be doing what I’m doing. It’s always a pleasure to be racing — and when you’re racing at one of your favorite racing tracks of the season, it’s even better.”
