The Parque O'Higgins Circuit was an 11 turn, long temporary

street circuit A street circuit is a motorsport racing circuit composed of temporarily closed-off public roads of a city, town or village, used in motor races. Airport runways and taxiways are also sometimes part of street circuits. Facilities such as the p ...

located in the city of

Santiago, Chile Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital (political), capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated Regions of Chile, region, t ...

, and was used for the

Santiago ePrix The Santiago ePrix, or, for sponsorship reasons, Antofagasta Minerals Santiago ePrix, is an annual race of the single-seater, electrically powered Formula E championship, held in Santiago, Chile. It was first raced in the 2017–18 season. ...

of the

electric Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by ...

single-seater An open-wheel single-seater (often known as formula car) is a car with the wheels outside the car's main body, and usually having only one seat. Open-wheel cars contrast with street cars, sports cars, stock cars, and touring cars, which have thei ...

ABB Formula E Championship. Its first use came on 26 January 2019, when it hosted the

2019 Santiago ePrix The 2019 Santiago ePrix (formally the 2019 Antofagasta Minerals Santiago E-Prix) was a Formula E electric car race held at the Parque O'Higgins Circuit in the Parque O'Higgins of Santiago, Chile on 27 January 2019. It was the third round of t ...

, and replaced the previous

Santiago Street Circuit The Santiago Street Circuit is a temporary street circuit located in the city of Santiago, Chile. It was used for the Santiago ePrix of the open-wheel car, single-seater, Electric car, electrically powered Formula E championship on the date of 3 F ...

as the venue of the race.

History

Santiago had always been expected to host the third round of the 2018–19 championship, but the race remained without an assigned location while FE and city officials negotiated terms for the electric championship to return and hold a second event, following the success of the inaugural race. However, a new layout was made necessary, after logistical challenges were encountered at the inaugural race, which faced intense opposition from local residents due to its use of roads through Santiago's Forestal Park. As such, plans were made to relocate the race to the

O'Higgins Park O'Higgins Park (, formerly known as Parque Cousiño), with an area of around , is Santiago, Chile's second largest public park after Metropolitan Park. It is located in the center of the capital, in the Santiago Commune. The park, named after B ...

, in a bid to reduce the disruption to local residents during the race.

Layout

The original layout of the circuit was a 14 turn, long track, and consisted of the roads inside of the O’Higgins Park, running around the

Movistar Arena Movistar Arena is a 17,000-seat multi-purpose indoor arena in Santiago, Chile. It is located inside O'Higgins Park, in downtown Santiago. Its main structure was built in 1956, but it remained unfinished and without roof, the roof was installed i ...

. During the second running of the race at the Circuit, the

2020 Santiago ePrix The 2020 Santiago ePrix (formally the 2020 Antofagasta Minerals Santiago E-Prix) was a Formula E electric car race held at the Parque O'Higgins Circuit in the Parque O'Higgins of Santiago, Chile on 18 January 2020. It served as the third round ...

, numerous changes to the track layout were made, most notably at the curving back straight, where the tight chicane was removed, while the pit lane was moved to the other side of the track, to the inside of the circuit. In addition, the sweeping right hander which was the former Turn 1 was modified, with a new left hander being added ahead of the former 1st turn. The final sector of the lap was also removed, with the zig-zag section of the track being reversed compared to the previous year. The removal of the chicane came as Formula E looked to reduce the number of chicanes on the tracks in the championship.

References

{{Formula E circuits Santiago Parque O'Higgins Santiago Parque O'Higgins Santiago Parque O'Higgins Santiago ePrix