LONDON (Reuters) – The final round of the inaugural Extreme E season will be held at a British army base on southern England’s Jurassic Coast in December, organisers of the electric off-road SUV series announced on Tuesday.
Extreme E founder Alejandro Agag recognised that the ‘Jurassic X Prix’ at Bovington on Dec. 18-19 marked a shift from racing in remote places to highlight the effects of climate change.
“More increasingly the issues we talk about are literally happening in our backyards so it felt like the right time to bring the spotlight home, and help the army reduce its own carbon footprint,” said the Spaniard in a statement.
Bovington, an extensive and off-limits area of forest and heathland, has been used for tank and artillery training by the British army for more than a century.
The army this year published a climate change and sustainability strategy, aiming to reduce dependency on fossil fuels, and mitigate the impact on the environment with new and cleaner technologies.
The Ministry of Defence also highlighted its role as the largest owner of Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in England.
Britain is hosting the U.N. global climate change summit (COP26) in Glasgow from Oct. 31 to Nov. 12.
The series, which uses identical SUVs and includes male and female drivers in every lineup, lists Formula One world champions Lewis Hamilton, Nico Rosberg and Jenson Button among team owners.
It aims to raise awareness about climate change and promote sustainability by racing in remote and harsh environments already suffering damage.
Extreme E in June cancelled races scheduled for Brazil’s Amazon and Argentina’s Patagonia regions due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The other race venues have been Saudi Arabia, Senegal and Greenland. The penultimate round is being held in Sardinia this month.
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Ed Osmond)
