Race Against Time in Puerto Banus

54’s event management unit won the tender to stage the third round of the 2024 UIM E1 World Championship in Marbella just three months before the event. The E1 Puerto Banus Grand Prix required 54 to work closely with a myriad of key municipal stakeholders as well as numerous business owners, restaurants and shops which all had to keep fully operational until the race weekend officially started. You can lock down a golf course, but a thriving tourist and commercial port is a different matter.

So, 54 worked closely with the port owners Civitas Puerto Banus, the Andalucian Government and the local National Guard to ensure business activities could continue unaffected while also ensuring that all health, safety and emergency procedures were followed. The site build also faced the challenge of having to ensure a protected local species of mollusc came to no harm.

The logistics challenge was added to by having an events, suppliers and support team of around 300 people in a geographically tight and challenging site.

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54 built a stunning event and hospitality complex on the 900m long breakwater at the Andalucian marina, having to navigate a narrow pedestrian pathway and busy tourist crowds to ensure the build did not prove too disruptive to local trade. 54 also created the Acceleration Festival, a fan zone featuring interactive activities and other attractions for some 10,000 visitors which attended the two days of the race weekend. Unexpectedly poor weather meant qualification sessions and the racing itself had to be brought forward each day and the experienced events team reacted at speed to ensure the action on the water and the enjoyment of the big crowds were not impacted.