Last night the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, the Ministry of Sport and the 2023 CORE Diriyah E-Prix Official Promoter CBX held its annual gala dinner, presented by SABIC. The evening raised $1,945,000 that will be shared between the Charitable Society of Autism Families (SAF) and The Princess Charlene of Monaco Foundation South Africa.
The event was held at the all-new Saraj by Cuizina and attended by familiar faces from the sport including host for the night and Formula E commentator Nicki Shields, drivers André Lotterer, Lucas di Grassi and Maximilian Günther, plus members of the Saudi Arabian business and motorsport community. The event marks the start of race week as the Kingdom prepares to host the only night-race on the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship calendar at the UNESCO World Heritage site in Diriyah tomorrow (27 January) and Saturday (28 January).
More than $1.9 million was raised through the auction hosted by Simon de Pury which had a total of 12 luxury items and experiences including one-to-one coaching with former Lead FBI negotiator Chris Voss, a TAG Heuer Carrera Heuer O2T Tourbillon, a stay and play at Africa’s best golf course and the chequered flag that will be waved this weekend. The top pick on the night was a Formula E GEN2 car which received a number of offers with $320,000 topping the bidding war.
His Highness Prince Saud bin Abdul Aziz bin Farhan Al-Saud, SAF Chairman, said: “I’m sincerely grateful to the support of Formula E, SABIC, CBX, Ministry of Sport and the Saudi Arabian Motor Federation for organising this evening in support of SAF. The generous donations made will support so many families on their autism journey. At SAF, we aim to provide children and their families with opportunities to thrive, and that wouldn’t be possible without the support and generosity of everyone last night. It means so much to not only myself, but everyone in our organisation who work tirelessly to help the many children and families we support through our work.”
Carlo Boutagy, CBX Founder, said: “What a way to kick-off the 2023 CORE Diriyah E-Prix. My huge thanks to all those that donated auction items and to the bidders. $1,945,000 is a phenomenal amount of money which will make such a difference to the children and families supported by SAF as well as the work of The Princess Charlene of Monaco Foundation South Africa.”
Alejandro Agag, Founder and Chairman of Formula E, added: “It has been fantastic to bring together distinguished guests from Formula E, the Ministry of Sport, CBX and the Charitable Society of Autism Families (SAF) and through the funds raised support the vital work they do in helping children and their loved ones. With our mission of accelerating sustainable human progress rooted at the core of what we do, we not only share and nurture our values at all our races, but bring people together to drive forward purposeful change. We are honoured to be back racing in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for rounds two and three of Season 9 in the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship and look forward to this weekend’s 2023 CORE Diriyah E-Prix.”
The ABB FIA Formula E World Championship has supported SAF since Season 6. The organisation cares for 5,000 families with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) with children of all ages across the Kingdom and aims to improve autism services by launching high-quality and sustainable projects to help.
The World Health Organization estimated that 360,000 people drowned worldwide in 2015 and The Princess Charlene of Monaco Foundation South Africa is hoping to change that. Launched in 2012, the organisation’s primary objective is to save lives by putting an end to drowning. It creates and facilitates a variety of programmes aimed at teaching people to swim, raising awareness of the dangers of water and teaching children preventative measures to decrease water-related accidents.
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