Publications
Partners
A company headed by a former political prisoner wants to bring F1 back to South Africa after a 20-year absence with a street race in Cape Town from 2013. So Wheels24 went and drove the circuit.
The Cape Town Grand Prix Bid Company hopes to hold a race at the foot of iconic Table Mountain in the picturesque coastal venue and part of the plans involve the F1 cars racing through the city's new World Cup football stadium.
Led by 41-year-old Igshaan Amlay - who was sent to prison as a teenager in 1987 for his part in a student protest against apartheid - the company said it had been in contact with Bernie Ecclestone's office since late 2009 but was now pushing for a meeting with the F1 boss before the start of the 2011 season on March 11.
HOPING FOR MEETING
"We have made significant progress with Ecclestone," spokesperson Esther Henderson said on Wednesday. "We have an invitation from his office.
"Back in 2009, his office said he would like to meet us but unfortunately our national government was focused on the (football) World Cup. But, the 2010 World Cup has now allowed Ecclestone to evaluate a major event in South Africa and we hope to secure a meeting with him before the Grand Prix season."
Ecclestone spoke last year of the series' interest in returning to South Africa, and hinted the country's successful hosting of the world's biggest football event boosted its chances of an F1 Grand Prix.
F1, like the World Cup, has set its sights on new markets with a first-ever race in India this year and Russia set to join the calendar from 2014. Africa is the only continent without an F1 Grand Prix - not counting Antarctica.
LAST SA GP IN 1993
Six races on the 2011 calendar - Abu Dhabi, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Germany and Singapore - have contracts with F1 which will expire in 2012.
The most recent South African GP was in 1993 when Alain Prost won for Williams-Renault at Kyalami, Johannesburg.
The Cape Town bidders believe their street race proposal and "very sexy location" fits the series' glamorous image. It offers an African version of Monaco's famous waterfront race, they say, with cars racing along the city's Atlantic seaboard.
"It would be along the coast, with the city's magnificent landmarks," Henderson said. "It would be an iconic location for a TV broadcast, a very sexy location. It's about staging a show that's entertaining and the best of its kind, and we believe it would fit Ecclestone's plans for F1."
The proposal also includes "full use of the Cape Town Stadium", the bid company said in a promotional document.
The R4.2-billion arena, owned and run by the city of Cape Town, was in danger of becoming a white elephant because of its lack of use since 2010's World Cup.
ONE OF THREE BIDS
The cars would race through the stadium, Henderson said - in one tunnel and out of another - in a unique idea for F1, and would allow fans to experience "the exhilaration" of seeing F1 cars close up. There would be a chicane in the stadium to slow the cars.
City and provincial government officials say the street race option was one of three bids for a F1 race in Cape Town, South Africa's second biggest city. The other two involve new tracks outside the city. None of the bids has been officially endorsed by the city or the Western Cape provincial government.
"There's lots to be done and it's still early days," provincial tourism minister Alan Winde said, "but it (an F1 bid) fits in with our strategy of attracting major events to the city."
Officials from Cape Town attended F1 races in Singapore and China last season to gather information on what is involved in hosting an F1 race.
Winde added the provincial government would have to "crunch the numbers" to see if the race made economic sense.
The chairman of the Western Cape Motor Club, which runs motorsport events in the province, said Cape Town had a "fighting chance" of hosting an F1 race in 2013, but expressed concerns over the cost and disruption caused by a street race.
Brian Smith, who was not involved in any of the bids, said a street circuit was "second best" to a motor racing track and placed the cost of hosting an F1 race in Cape Town at about R989-million.
ECCLESTONE'S CHARGES
Henderson would not reveal how much the bid company estimated it needed, but said it hoped to get its financial backing from mainly private investors. It was hoping to meet with South Africa's ministry of sport to gain government approval.
Ecclestone's F1 anagement company charges cities R211m-R282m on average just for the right to host a race.
F1 is South Africa's latest major sporting mission after being hugely encouraged by its successful hosting of last year's World Cup - the first on the African continent.
It is also expected to bid to host the 2020 Olympic Games later this year in an effort to bring the Olympics to Africa for the first time.
"As we bask in the afterglow of a momentous FIFA World Cup," the Cape Town Grand Prix Bid Company said, "the hosting of a potential Formula One Grand Prix in Cape Town in 2013 has never seemed more plausible.
"An annual F1 Grand Prix presents the opportunity to fuel the country's economy ahead of a prospective Olympic Games."
The Cape Town Grand Prix Bid Company hopes to hold a race at the foot of iconic Table Mountain in the picturesque coastal venue and part of the plans involve the F1 cars racing through the city's new World Cup football stadium.
Led by 41-year-old Igshaan Amlay - who was sent to prison as a teenager in 1987 for his part in a student protest against apartheid - the company said it had been in contact with Bernie Ecclestone's office since late 2009 but was now pushing for a meeting with the F1 boss before the start of the 2011 season on March 11.
HOPING FOR MEETING
"We have made significant progress with Ecclestone," spokesperson Esther Henderson said on Wednesday. "We have an invitation from his office.
"Back in 2009, his office said he would like to meet us but unfortunately our national government was focused on the (football) World Cup. But, the 2010 World Cup has now allowed Ecclestone to evaluate a major event in South Africa and we hope to secure a meeting with him before the Grand Prix season."
Ecclestone spoke last year of the series' interest in returning to South Africa, and hinted the country's successful hosting of the world's biggest football event boosted its chances of an F1 Grand Prix.
F1, like the World Cup, has set its sights on new markets with a first-ever race in India this year and Russia set to join the calendar from 2014. Africa is the only continent without an F1 Grand Prix - not counting Antarctica.
LAST SA GP IN 1993
Six races on the 2011 calendar - Abu Dhabi, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Germany and Singapore - have contracts with F1 which will expire in 2012.
The most recent South African GP was in 1993 when Alain Prost won for Williams-Renault at Kyalami, Johannesburg.
The Cape Town bidders believe their street race proposal and "very sexy location" fits the series' glamorous image. It offers an African version of Monaco's famous waterfront race, they say, with cars racing along the city's Atlantic seaboard.
"It would be along the coast, with the city's magnificent landmarks," Henderson said. "It would be an iconic location for a TV broadcast, a very sexy location. It's about staging a show that's entertaining and the best of its kind, and we believe it would fit Ecclestone's plans for F1."
The proposal also includes "full use of the Cape Town Stadium", the bid company said in a promotional document.
The R4.2-billion arena, owned and run by the city of Cape Town, was in danger of becoming a white elephant because of its lack of use since 2010's World Cup.
ONE OF THREE BIDS
The cars would race through the stadium, Henderson said - in one tunnel and out of another - in a unique idea for F1, and would allow fans to experience "the exhilaration" of seeing F1 cars close up. There would be a chicane in the stadium to slow the cars.
City and provincial government officials say the street race option was one of three bids for a F1 race in Cape Town, South Africa's second biggest city. The other two involve new tracks outside the city. None of the bids has been officially endorsed by the city or the Western Cape provincial government.
"There's lots to be done and it's still early days," provincial tourism minister Alan Winde said, "but it (an F1 bid) fits in with our strategy of attracting major events to the city."
Officials from Cape Town attended F1 races in Singapore and China last season to gather information on what is involved in hosting an F1 race.
Winde added the provincial government would have to "crunch the numbers" to see if the race made economic sense.
The chairman of the Western Cape Motor Club, which runs motorsport events in the province, said Cape Town had a "fighting chance" of hosting an F1 race in 2013, but expressed concerns over the cost and disruption caused by a street race.
Brian Smith, who was not involved in any of the bids, said a street circuit was "second best" to a motor racing track and placed the cost of hosting an F1 race in Cape Town at about R989-million.
ECCLESTONE'S CHARGES
Henderson would not reveal how much the bid company estimated it needed, but said it hoped to get its financial backing from mainly private investors. It was hoping to meet with South Africa's ministry of sport to gain government approval.
Ecclestone's F1 anagement company charges cities R211m-R282m on average just for the right to host a race.
F1 is South Africa's latest major sporting mission after being hugely encouraged by its successful hosting of last year's World Cup - the first on the African continent.
It is also expected to bid to host the 2020 Olympic Games later this year in an effort to bring the Olympics to Africa for the first time.
"As we bask in the afterglow of a momentous FIFA World Cup," the Cape Town Grand Prix Bid Company said, "the hosting of a potential Formula One Grand Prix in Cape Town in 2013 has never seemed more plausible.
"An annual F1 Grand Prix presents the opportunity to fuel the country's economy ahead of a prospective Olympic Games."
