Tokyo E-Prix

Tokyo E-Prix
File:Tokyo EPrix Poster 2024.png
E-Prix Details
Name	ABB Formula E Tokyo E-Prix
Location	Tokyo International Exhibition Centre, Tokyo, Japan
No. Held	1
Circuit	Tokyo Street Circuit
Previous Circuits
First Race	2024 Tokyo E-Prix
Last Race	2025 Tokyo E-Prix II
Only Race
Most Recent Results
Name	2024 ABB Formula E Tokyo E-Prix
Pole	Oliver Rowland 1:19.023 (117.627 km/h)
First	Second	Third
Maximilian Günther	Oliver Rowland	Jake Dennis
Fastest lap	Maximilian Günther 1:21.699

The Tokyo E-Prix is an annual motorsport event held as part of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, based at the Tokyo Street Circuit at the Tokyo International Exhibition Centre, Tokyo, Japan. First staged in 2024 as the fifth round of the 2023/24 season, the Tokyo E-Prix proved to be a popular venue for drivers and attendees, prompting the event to become a double header from 2024/25.

City History

Renowned as one of the most populated cities in the world and the capital of Japan, Tokyo, officially known as the Tokyo Metropolis, is a city located on the Tokyo Bay, part of the Kantō region of the largest island of Japan, Honshu. The city's origins can be found in the Edo period, when the village of Edo was founded at the head of the Tokyo bay by the Edo clain in the twelfth century. The village would be defended by Edo castle from 1457, before becoming the seat of the Kantō region in 1590 when the region was granted to Tokugawa Ieyasu, who moved from his ancestral home to make Edo his capital.

Shogun Supremacy

In 1603 Ieyasu would be granted the title of shōgun, making him the de facto ruler, although the Imperial House of Japan still ruled the country formally from Kyoto. The Pax Tokugawa would allow Edo to develop into a major city, despite constant natural disasters, fires and earthquakes, with the city home to over 1 million people before the end of the 18th century. Ultimately, the Pax Tokugawa would end in 1868 amid the fall of the shōgunate, spurred by the increased influence of Western powers in Japan as a whole and the city being attacked by the forces of the Emperor of Japan, and would be renamed as Tokyo, meaning Eastern Capital, on 3 September 1868, with control of the city handed to the Meji Government.

Modern Moves: 1869 - 1945

Emperor Meji would move to Tokyo in 1869, taking over Edo Castle and renaming in the Imperial Palace and making Tokyo the capital in all but name, although the formal capital remained in Kyoto fo rthe time being. The City of Tokyo was incorporated on 1 May 1889, with the city continuing to grow at a rapid rate until the Great Kanto Earthquake on 1 September 1923 triggered a fire and severe damage, costing the lives of 105,000 citizens. The widespread damage caused by the earthquake saw Tokyo almost completely rebuilt, with old timber and brick buildings replaced by concrete structures that were better suited to surviving natural disasters, particularly earthquakes.

Tokyo quickly rebuilt although it would be subject to two military coups d'etat in the 1930s, sparked by the Great Depression that threatened to topple the Imperial House. Ultimately both were thwarted, before Emperor Hirohito joined the Axis powers in a bid to demonstrate Japan's military capabilities on the world stage. That decision, and Japan's aggression in the Second World War, led to Tokyo being attacked by a foreign power for the first time, resulting in the region on 75,000 and 200,000 deaths, 2/5 of the city being completely destroyed, the destruction of the Imperial Palace and other important historical structurs, and the population dropping by over half by the end of the war.

Evolution and Eco moves: 1946 - Present

Tokyo became an Allied Occupational Forces base and would effectively be controlled by Douglas MacArthur for six years, which saw the city rebuilt with a focus on transport and infrastructure and the city divided into 23 wards that remain in existence. The 1950s saw the rebuild phase end to be replaced by a development period, with skyscrapers greatly altering the skyline of Tokyo beginning in the 1960s, with Tokyo leading Japan to peaking as the World's second largest economy in 1973 on the eve of the 1973 Oil Crisis. Tokyo subsequently survived several major funding failures and disruption to the Yen, emerging as the world's second largest capital by 2023, and significantly hosting the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, 80 years after the country was forced to abandon the 1940 Tokyo Olympics.

Formula E History

Hosting an E-Prix in Tokyo was a long held ambition for the FIA Formula E Championship, dating back to the series very origins when Alberto Longo, co-founder of the series, opened negotiations with the Tokyo Metropolitan Government in 2013. While the goal to get the Tokyo E-Prix on the inaugural FE calendar in 2014/15 failed, the city and Formula E continued to hold intermittent meetings and negotiations, although the two sides never truly managed to reach an agreement. That was, until a breakthrough, in the wake of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, was finally reached between the two sides in October 2022 with a deal signed for the city to host its first E-Prix in 2024, aiming for the spring.

That deal was officially announced on 20 June 2023, with the Tokyo E-Prix joining the calendar for the 2023/24 season, FE's tenth campaign, as the fifth round of the season, with a circuit based around the Tokyo International Exhibition Centre later revealed on 25 October 2023. The inaugural Tokyo E-Prix was held on 30 March 2024, and would see Maximilian Günther sweep to victory after a last lap scrap with Oliver Rowland.

Circuit History

The Tokyo E-Prix was first held on the Tokyo Street Circuit, a circuit based around the Tokyo International Exhibition Centre's grounds and surrounding roads, overlooking Tokyo Bay. The circuit featured eighteen turns with a technical first sector, followed by a flat-out second and then a mixed third sector.

Records

A full list of records for the Tokyo E-Prix are outlined below, including a list of race winners.

Winners

Below is a list of all of the winners of the Tokyo E-Prix:

Tokyo E-Prix Winners List
Season	Name	Circuit	Date	Winner	Report
2023/24	2024 ABB Formula E Tokyo E-Prix	Tokyo Street Circuit	30 March 2024	Maximilian Günther	Report
2024/25	2025 ABB Formula E Tokyo E-Prix I	Tokyo Street Circuit	17 May 2025		Report
2023/24	2025 ABB Formula E Tokyo E-Prix II	Tokyo Street Circuit	18 May 2025		Report

References

Images and Videos:

• FIA Formula E Championship, 'Tokyo E-Prix', facebook.com, (FIA Formula E: Facebook, 20/06/2023), https://www.facebook.com/fiaformulae/photos/%E3%83%95%E3%82%A9%E3%83%BC%E3%83%9F%E3%83%A5%E3%83%A9e%E3%81%8C%E6%97%A5%E6%9C%AC%E3%81%AB%E3%82%84%E3%81%A3%E3%81%A6%E3%81%8F%E3%82%8B-we-cant-wait-to-hit-the-streets-of-tokyo-japan-in-season-10-/1312454206054992/, (Accessed 05/09/2024)

References: