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Political front forming against Berlin ePrix

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The news that a new home for the Berlin ePrix 2016 was found on Karl-Marx-Allee allowed all fans of the event to catch their breath. But now Berlin’s federal state government has to deal with a political front forming against the event in the city centre.

The Berlin ePrix 2016 is set to take place on Karl-Marx-Allee – a major high street in the districts of Friedrichshain and Mitte. The Berlin federal state government is highly optimistic that the event will take place as scheduled yet it has to deal with major political resistance from both the Friedrichshain and Mitte district administration. Monika Herrmann, borough major of Friedrichshain, and Christian Hanke, borough major of Mitte, speak out against the new location for the Berlin ePrix. Herrmann who is part of the green political party DIE GRÜNEN said:

[pullquote align=”full” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]”I am against it. Racing in general and especially in the city centre – that’s completely out of order. Even with electric cars.”[/pullquote]

Her reaction against the event is surprising seeing that DIE GRÜNEN are campaigning for e-mobility; a trend that Formula E promotes. On her Social Media accounts Herrmann has been seen using the event to campaign for highways for bicycles, using the hashtag #RadschnellwegStattAutorennen (translation: bike highways instead of car races). While the resistance might not seem like a major political hurdle at first sight, Formula E is trusting the Berlin federal state government to improve parts of the tarmac in Lichtenberger Straße and the adjacent Straußberger Platz to ensure the safety of the delicate Formula E cars. e-racing.net’s track walk earlier this week has shown that some parts of the track definitely need to be resurfaced ahead of the ePrix. As resurfacing is a project that needs to be handled by the district, Herrmann speaking out against the event might cause problems for the Berlin ePrix 2016.

e-racing.net is in contact with Monika Herrmann and the Berlin federal state government to bring you some further information soon.

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Image courtesy of FIA Formula E Media

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