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A consortium of business leaders called Blue Mountain Racing (BMR) aims to host Formula One and MotoGP races at a new racing circuit to be built in the Swartland, Western Cape.
It plans to stage its first Formula One race by 2031, 38 years after the last Grand Prix was held at Kyalami in 1993.
The announcement was made this week by BMR chair Neal Froneman at the annual Swartland mayoral breakfast, hosted by Swartland mayor Harold Cleophas. Froneman is the former CEO of Sibanye-Stillwater, from which he retired in September last year.
The project is a privately driven and funded initiative with the potential to unlock tourism growth and job creation, BMR said, adding that it had received interest from a number of major South African companies, which it did not name.
BMR said it had made initial contact with both Formula One and MotoGP to pursue hosting annual rounds of the world championships at the venue. It is also engaging with national and provincial governments as design and planning work proceeds.
The track would be fully privately financed at no expense to the public, with a total cost of R6.7bn, said the company. The circuit would be located on a 600ha site close to Malmesbury, around an hour’s drive from central Cape Town, and is being designed to FIA grade 1 standard.
This proposal creates a win-win scenario, given its proximity to Cape Town, one of the most recognised and popular tourist destinations in the world
— Neal Froneman, Blue Mountain Racing chair
“Modern Formula One is no longer built around circuits alone. Under Liberty Media, the sport has grown into a global entertainment property comprising 24 events a year, each anchored in a city the world already wants to visit,” said Froneman.
“This proposal creates a win-win scenario, given its proximity to Cape Town, one of the most recognised and popular tourist destinations in the world.”
The circuit is planned as the first component of a precinct intended to operate year-round as a racetrack, conference and events centre, said BMR CEO Bobby Hartslief.
There have been several attempts to bring back a South African Grand Prix in the more than three decades since the last race was held at Kyalami in 1993, a race won by Alain Prost in a Williams. All have been thwarted primarily by the huge financial investment required, with estimates that staging the event could cost between R1.2bn and R2.6bn annually.
Every effort has turned out to be a false start, leaving local F1 fans cynical about whether it will ever happen.
Last year sport, arts & culture minister Gayton McKenzie expressed confidence that the race would take place in 2027, with potential sponsors ready to fund the event.
His comments followed Kyalami being given the green light for upgrades by the FIA, the organisation that governs Formula One. Kyalami owner Toby Venter revealed that the FIA had accepted final design proposals to upgrade the 4.5km circuit from grade 2 to grade 1 status, the international standard required to host F1 racing.
Earlier this year, however, McKenzie confirmed that South Africa would not host a grand prix in 2027 because the financial and logistical requirements had been underestimated. The government was instead focusing on a potential bid for 2028 or 2029.
As for MotoGP, it was last held in South Africa in 2004 at the Phakisa racetrack in Welkom, where Valentino Rossi won on a Yamaha. Earlier motorcycle grands prix were held at Kyalami in the 1980s and 1990s before the event moved to Phakisa in 1999, where it remained until the final race in 2004.
Denis Droppa
www.timeslive.co.za