Formula E: Darryl O’Young set to make history at next month’s Hong Kong E-Prix
- The 38-year-old driver will compete in his first electric race and his first race in Hong Kong
- He hopes to compete a full season in the Jaguar I-Pace eTrophy series next year
Long-serving local driver Darryl O’Young has raced in more than 30 countries in 15 years as a racing professional but has never raced in Hong Kong. All that will change next month when he makes history at the Hong Kong E-Prix, where he will compete in one of the support races on the streets of Central.
Smart Charge and Jaguar have teamed up with O’Young to help the 38-year-old take his place in motorsport history by becoming the first Hong Kong racer to drive an electric racing car at the Jaguar I-Pace eTrophy, the world’s first all-electric production based international race series. That series will come to town in the third running of the Hong Kong E-Prix, which will be held on March 10 on the 1.86km street circuit in the Central Harbourfront district. Hong Kong is the third round of the Jaguar I-Pace eTrophy series (10 rounds) and O’Young will compete in it as a VIP guest driver.
The first round was held in Ad Diriyah in Saudi Arabia last December and round two was held in Mexico City last week.
“I’ve driven the Hong Kong circuit before when I did a demonstration in a road car [Detroit electric] two years ago,” O’Young told the South China Morning Post on Sunday.
“This will be the first time that I will be driving an electric racing car so it’s going to be quite interesting for me. Jaguar have built this car, they have tested it and it’s been completely upgraded to be a racing car so it’s going to be really something.
“I’m really excited because it’s going to be a challenge. It’s my first time in an electric racing car. It’s also a challenge because it hasn’t been done [by a Hong Kong driver] before. It’s also my first-ever race in Hong Kong. I have raced in over 30 countries all over the world but never in my own city,” he said. O’Young will compete in an one-off electric race in Hong Kong but hopes he can compete in the Jaguar series next year. He is scheduled to compete a whole season in the Blancpain GT Series Asia starting in April.
