Jakarta ePrix
The Jakarta ePrix was an annual race of the single-seater, electrically powered Formula E championship, which is held in Jakarta, Indonesia. It is the first FIA-sanctioned race in the country since the A1 GP Grand Prix of Nations race in Sentul in 2006 and the first ever motor racing event to be administered directly by the FIA.
The plan to include Jakarta as part of the 2020 Formula E Championship was conceived in Monaco in April 2019, and discussed in New York City in July 2019. In August, the decision was made and the event was officially announced in September 2019, with Jakarta originally intended to hold the event for five consecutive years starting from 2020. It was supposed to have been first held in the 2019–20 [Formula E season|2019–20 season], on 6 June 2020; the race was cancelled as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
On 15 October 2021, it was announced that the race would be the ninth round of 2021–22 Formula E World Championship, becoming the first ePrix in Indonesia and the fourth Asian country to host an ePrix, following China, Malaysia, and Saudi Arabia. The event and its planning has been surrounded by several controversies, such as high commitment fees and location uncertainty.
Circuit
The original circuit was initially to be situated around the National Monument and the Merdeka Square, both in Central Jakarta. The announcement of the location was delayed until January 2022, from the original schedule of December 2021. The executive director of the Center of Youth and Population Research, Dedek Prayudi, commented that the 2022 Jakarta ePrix could have been potentially delayed or cancelled as a result of location uncertainty.Eventually, the location of the circuit would be announced in 23 December according to the main director of PT Jakarta Propertindo, Widi Amanasto. The event's chief organizer, Ahmad Sahroni, said that only two left from all five options for the circuit's location, Ancol or JIEXPO Kemayoran. On 22 December, following multiple postponements, Ancol was selected as the location for the race.
Ancol's location as the race in Ancol caused controversies, due to it being constructed at a mud dump that was used during the previous governorships of Joko Widodo and Basuki Tjahaja Purnama. While the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle opposed tree logging at the location, the main director of Jakpro, Widi Amanasto said that the trees would not be cut down, but instead be relocated. Jakarta's vice governor, Ahmad Riza Patria, said that the race is not supposed to be held on the swamps.