After a two-month gap since Saudi Arabia, Formula E roars back into action in South America for the Santiago E-Prix.
The Santiago race was under some jeopardy prior to the festive period, with social unrest taking place elsewhere in Chile, however the race is understood to be going ahead as planned.
In a surprise move, practice airs live for the first time on the BBC, in addition to qualifying and the race. Motorsport Broadcasting is working to confirm if this is a one-off arrangement, or permanent for the remainder of the season.
Discovery’s Eurosport platform is also covering qualifying and the race, albeit the former airs on tape-delay; with Quest airing late-night highlights.
Fans wanting to watch shakedown will need to venture to Formula E’s social media pages for Santiago.
On a Formula E related note, Motorsport Broadcasting would like to send best wishes and positive vibes over to legendary commentator Bob Varsha, who has commentated on Formula E, Formula 1, and IndyCar, amongst other championships in his illustrious career.
RACER confirmed earlier this month that Varsha is battling a rare and aggressive form of prostate cancer. Fans wishing to help support Varsha and his family at this time can do so over on a GoFundMe page that has been set up.
Formula E – Santiago
Shakedown, Practice and Qualifying air live on YouTube
18/01 – 10:55 to 11:55 – Practice 1 (BBC’s digital platforms)
18/01 – 13:10 to 13:55 – Practice 2 (BBC’s digital platforms)
18/01 – Qualifying
=> 14:45 to 16:15 (BBC online)
=> 18:05 to 18:45 (Eurosport 2)
18/01 – Race
=> 18:00 to 20:30 (BBC’s digital platforms)
=> 18:45 to 20:00 (Eurosport 2)
19/01 – 00:00 to 01:00 – Highlights (Quest)
As always, I will amend the schedule if details change.
Update on January 16th – Speaking to this site, Formula E says that it intends to air as “many sessions as possible live across the BBC this season,” with practice airing on the network where possible.
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Oh man, I hope Bob Varsha can overcome and recover from that, I lost my dad to prostate cancer back in 2015, Life can be too cruel sometimes 😔
Thank you David for posting Bob’s GFM page that Marshall Pruett initiated. Bob is a dear friend of mine and has the absolute best stories about racing. His friends and I would spend hours listening to him.
I have no doubt that he will beat this and come out stronger.
He’s just that kinda guy.
Agree, the support in the US motorsport paddock for Varsha is rampant. What’s also helping is the connections such as MD Anderson (which supported INDYCAR’s Houston race in the Reliant Park car park) and other well known places. He admitted he is a Ken Squier protege, and that says much. Formula E posted his Season 2 call of Long Beach and you can hear how refreshing it was to let the race create the drama and Dario learn a different style of broadcasting closer to what he saw at the 2014 Indy 500 as Allen Bestwick also was trained by Ken Squier.
Trust me, Varsha will come out stronger and he’s battling this as he lets the doctors and researchers lead in the fight the way in an even-keeled manner — just give the facts and plot the details, and what he’s fighting he and his doctors will plot every way to win the same way. Give me how to defeat this dastardly C word.
I’m seeing Formula E on the BBC Red Button 1 channel.
Best wishes to Bob Varsha.
Yes, red button, Iplayer and the motorsport pages of the Formula E website. One question mark obviously is whether practice will also appear on Iplayer, given BBC don’t normally show this