It is the second international racing event being held in the country this year after the MotoGP grand prix at the newly built Mandalika International Circuit in Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara, in March.

The event in Jakarta will be Formula E’s ninth round of the season. According to the Formula E website, Saturday’s action gets underway with free practice from 7:15 a.m. Jakarta time, a qualifying session at 10:40 a.m. and the race from 3 p.m.

The venue for the race – a 2.37-kilometer, 18-turn brand new Ancol circuit – was completed just months after the central government rejected an initial plan of using the streets around the National Monument (Monas) in Central Jakarta, the city's iconic landmark.

The track kicks off with a tight opening sector after a long run down the start/finish straight before a series of fast, long straights and natural high-speed corners. It offers unique banked sections, undulations, bumps and a mix of technical and high-speed sections and will provide an uncharted territory for 22 drivers competing in the E-Prix. The clockwise track is inspired by the Kuda Lumping, a traditional Javanese dance that portrays troops riding horses made from woven bamboo and decorated with paints and fabrics. 

Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan said on Wednesday that all the necessary preparation for the E-Prix was almost completed.

"We're finalizing a few non-essential details, such as painting [the venue] and applying [sponsorship] stickers. But all the substantial facilities for the race are ready," he said as reported by kompas.com.

Green energy campaign

On Thursday, Anies organized a meet and greet event with the 22 racers at the Monas complex, during which he expressed hope that Jakarta's Formula E race could boost the sustainable energy campaign in Indonesia's capital, which is one of the most polluted cities in the world.

"We hope that the Jakarta E-Prix can strengthen authorities' commitment to dealing with air pollution and to convert fossil-fueled vehicles to electric ones. By hosting the race, we want to show the world that Jakarta is ready to take transformative measures to fight climate change," Anies said.

The event was also attended by Indonesia Motor Association (IMI) head and People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) speaker Bambang Soesatyo, the chief organizing committee of Jakarta's Formula E, Ahmad Sahroni, and Formula E co-founder Alberto Longo.

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Formula E electric motorsport is a net-zero carbon event and Jakarta's E-prix will be 100 percent powered by sustainably-sourced Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO) supplied by state-owned oil and gas company Pertamina. Meanwhile, the organizer will measure, reduce and offset all its unavoidable emissions by investing in renewable energy production.

Anies said Jakarta aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent in 2030 and reaching zero emissions by 2050. To realize this, he said, Jakarta was currently seeking to gradually convert thousands of its city buses, Transjakarta, to electric buses.

Warm welcome

People living in Greater Jakarta are warmly welcoming the capital’s debut to host the Formula E race, with some 22,000 tickets and various merchandise selling out around a week before the event, according to the organizer.

One of the ticket buyers, 20-year-old university student Adli Hussain from South Tangerang, said he had been planning to attend the race since last year.

"As a big fan of four-wheeled motorsports, I am very excited for Jakarta's E-Prix,” he told The Jakarta Post on Friday. “It will be my first time attending a motorsport race. I could not afford to buy a ticket for the F1 race in Singapore [Formula One Singapore Grand Prix] as it's quite expensive.”

Adli, who has been an avid racing fan for seven years, expressed hope that Jakarta's Formula E race could further spark the public's interest in motorsports, especially as Indonesia can now host various racing events more frequently thanks to the two newly built international circuits in Jakarta and Mandalika.

Read also: Anticipation, angst as Indonesia revs up for first MotoGP in 25 years

Another avid motorsports fan, Resi Respati, a 27-year-old software engineer from Jakarta, also shared his excitement for the Jakarta E-Prix.

"I've been following the Formula E race since its very first season in 2014. Unfortunately, I cannot attend the coming race, but I'm planning to watch it live on television while calling my friends. It's always so exciting to see Indonesia host a prestigious international racing event," he said.

Resi also hoped that it could encourage the public to switch from fossil-fuel cars to electric ones and to further support Jakarta's sustainable transportation campaign.