The company behind Vancouver’s scrapped inaugural Formula E electric motorsports race says it still hopes to stage the event next year, despite reports the international circuit has cut ties with organizers.
“OSS Group continues to work with the City of Vancouver to deliver Canadian E-Fest in the summer of 2023,” One Stop Strategy Group said in an emailed statement Friday.
“OSS Group is working to get all permits in place over the coming few months in order to have Formula E add the event to the 2023 calendar and years to come.”
The response came after Postmedia first reported the international group that runs the Formula E circuit had severed all contractual agreements with Montreal-based OSS Group.
In a written statement, Formula E confirmed it has cut immediate ties with the OSS Group, and Vancouver will not be included in the provisional race calendar for 2023.
“We retain active interest in delivering an E-Prix in Vancouver in the future,” it wrote.
“Formula E is mindful that many fans have purchased tickets to the Canadian E-Fest, which included the Vancouver E-Prix, from OSS Group. We expect OSS Group to ensure that it proceeds to a full refund of these tickets and to provide details on this process in the short term.”
OSS group confirmed Vancouver would not appear on the 2023 provisional calendar when published, but said the calendar would be updated throughout the year.
It said the cancelled contract with Formula E was for the 2022 event, and that “protocols are such that, Formula E and OSS Group were obliged to terminate their contract in advance of the Formula E provisional calendar’s release.”
Vancouver was originally slated to play host to its first-ever E-Prix race on the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship circuit on July 2.
The event was suddenly cancelled in April, when the OSS Group said it had made the “incredibly difficult decision” to “postpone” the Canadian E-Fest to 2023.
The event had already sold an estimated 30,000 tickets at the time. OSS said Friday that ticketholders seeking refunds would be contacted in July to begin the process.
In its own statement, the City of Vancouver said it had conducted some “preliminary conversations” with OSS Group and the Formula E group about next steps to permit a 2023 event, “with no date yet ascertained and no Host City Contract currently in place.”
Editor’s note: This article was updated on Sun. June 19, 2022 at 5:15 p.m. PST to include a new statement from Formula E.
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