International motor racing to return to Hong Kong with 2023 World RX series finale confirmed for November
- The two-day extravaganza in Central Harbourfront will cost an estimated HK$78 million
- It will be the first race since Formula E’s last outing in 2019, with social unrest and Covid bringing event to an end
International motor racing will return to Hong Kong in November after it was confirmed that the city will host the finale of this year’s FIA World Rallycross Championship (World RX) series.
The US$10 million event will be the first of its kind since Formula E was held along the waterfront of Victoria Harbour in 2019, weeks before social unrest gripped the city.
Local organisers are working with the government to build a track in central for the weekend event, which will take place on November 11 and 12, two weeks later than originally planned by the World Motor Sport Council.
“That piece of land on the waterfront will be very busy in November as there now will be three major events to be held there during that period,” Owen Chan Sheung-lor, of the city’s Automobile Association, said. “The Tourism Board’s Wine and Dine, and the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra concert plus the World RX and thanks to the coordination by the government, we can now squeeze in but the original date of late November is not possible.
“The schedule is still very tight because we have to build the track plus dismantling of the venue afterwards. But this is a big event in motorsport and we definitely want to make it happen.”
To help bring major sports event to Hong Kong, the government offers a maximum of HK$15 million in matching grants for organisers.
