Hyderabad E Prix: Motorsport enthusiasts disappointed; unable to choose preferred grandstands

Hyderabad: Motorsport enthusiasts are facing numerous challenges to book tickets for the last leg of Formula E racing in Hyderabad,

Not only from Hyderabad. motorsport enthusiasts from across India are trying to make it to the city of Nizams to watch the event on February 11,

Around 22,500 tickets were on sale and the starting price of the ticket was Rs.1,000. Based on the vantage points and seating proximity to the street circuit or the track, there were four types of tickets available- Rs.1,000 for Grandstands, Rs.3,500 for Charged Grandstands, Rs.6,000 for Premium Grandstands, and Rs..10,000 for Ace Grandstands. There are 18 seating points within these grandstands- named T1, T2,... ,T18.

On January 4, Arvind Kumar, Special Chief Secretary of Municipal Administration and Urban Development (MAUD) launched the ticket sale by buying one for himself.

Phase 1: No track map, seat layout

The primary problem that many of the customers raised was regarding the track map and seating layout being unavailable before the opening of the Phase 1 booking.

"Please update the site (Book My Show) with track and seat layout info, so we can make an informed choice while buying tickets. The current descriptions don't help at all," said one of the customers.

"The ticket booking process is so glitchy. First, they open the tickets without any info about grandstands, now they give info but no tickets available, nice," said another Instagram user.

The people who managed to get a grandstand ticket were still worried as the ticket did not tell them their grandstand number and seat number.

Shreyas Varma, a motorsport fan in the city said, "The experience of booking tickets for the formula E in Hyderabad was very bad. The authorities did not mention the stands and the map layout. We were waiting for the map to book tickets, but by then it got sold out. I couldn't afford the other stands as they were expensive." Later, Shreyas paid Rs.2,000 and got it from a person online.

Expressing his despair at being allocated to a random grandstand, a Twitter user wrote, "I had booked four premium tickets during Phase 1. And I have been randomly assigned a grandstand today. In phase 2, the option to select the grandstand is given. Either give us the option or change my grandstand to 4. Sadly, this option is not given to Phase 1 customers who backed this project without even knowing the seating layout. This is unfair. I have been assigned grandstand T11 but I want T3."

Different prices for grandstands

According to sources, T3 and T4 are the most popular seating points. "T3 and T4 offer views of the cars overtaking. T1 and T2 are also similar overtaking points but those seating points are not up on sale. In phase 2, I have not seen any of the T1, T2, T3, T4 viewing options go on sale," said Prathik, a motorsport enthusiast based in Chennai. Prathik is excited to come to Hyderabad and experience the first-ever Formula E match in India. He has managed to get an Rs.1,00 ticket but he expects that the T3 and T4 points would be up for sale soon.

Also, people point out that there is no logic behind the prices of the grandstands. "There is not much difference in what we are looking at. I don't understand why then we have to pay Rs.6,000 instead of Rs.3,500 for two different grandstands for the same viewing experience," said Prathik.

According to the organizers, in all four grandstands- grandstands, charged grandstands, premium grandstands, and ace grandstands, there is access to food, beverage, and merchandise stalls. The premium and ace grandstand ticket holders will be getting an additional food and beverage coupon.

Tickets selling like hotcakes

The Phase 1 ticket booking started on 4 January but the tickets were sold out by that very evening. The affordable Rs.1,000 tickets were sold out like hotcakes. On 5 January, the official Instagram Page for Hyderabad E Prix, 'Greenkohyderabadeprix' confirmed that the Phase 1 ticket has been sold out and that the stand information will be emailed to the customers. posted, "Phase 1 tickets sold out! Phase 2 releasing soon. Stands will be assigned soon and information will be shared via email with the ticket holders. A race ticket day information booklet will be sent via email to all ticket holders." They also said that the race schedule, timings, and traffic will be shared as it gets closer to race day.

However, some of the customers said after that, the Rs.1,000 tickets were randomly available in BookMyShow for a brief time on some days but many people missed it as they were unaware of it.

Phase 2 tickets went live at 5 pm on 10 January. But still, people said that they got sold off very quickly. "I waited since 3 pm and still at 5 pm, it showed tickets sold off. Not sure if they are withholding some tickets or keeping it aside for the sponsors," added Prathik.

Regarding the issue of Phase 1 customers not getting to choose their preferred grandstands, official representative of the AceNXTGen, the official promoter of the event said that the Phase 1 ticket holders have been given some of the best grandstands. "The Phase 1 tickets were launched as Early Bird / Introductory tickets. The tickets were sold at the best and lowest they would have been for this edition of the race, giving all motorsport fans a chance to avail the best deal for the race. The allotment is not random. They have been allocated some of the best stands available, which have great views of the track and is close to the on-track excitement," he said. Also, he added that the particular requests for change of stands are being addressed. According to the official, Phase 2 is currently open and Phase 3 is likely to open next week.

Hyderabad E Prix

The Formula E event will use electric cars and this season, it is the Gen3 cars with a speed of 320 kmph that are going to be on the track. The 2.8 km long street circuit with 18 turns stretches along the Hussain Sagar lake. A total of 11 teams and 22 drivers are going to participate in the 4th round of the event scheduled to be held from 10:30 am to 4 pm on 11 February. On 10 February, there would be trial runs happening on the track, informed the officials organizing the event. It is the ninth season of the Formula E racing event and it is the first time it is happening in India.