DECEMBER 27, 2024

New bidder enters South African GP race

Reacting quickly to the Rwandan president’s announcement his country has now made a formal bid to host a Formula 1 Grand Prix in the near future, the South African government has put together a new committee that will evaluate all the potential bids to become the home of their own Grand Prix before putting its full backing behind the best one.

While for many years it was believed Kyalami, in the outskirts of Johanesburg, was the only serious bidder to host the future South African Grand Prix, plans to have the race close to Cape Town have now been ressurrected and there is now talk of a brand new circuit being build north of that city, with a new company making its own formal announcement on Tuesday.

The Langa Lethu South Afrucan Grand Prix Bid Group has stated that is has aquired “a significant site on the West Coast,” and is preparing to make a formal announcement of its plans, “shortly after the New Year.”
The statement was very short of details but the Langa Lethu Group has revealed that, it will construct a Grade 1 FIA spec, state-of-the-art Grand Prix racetrack with the Table Mountain and Robben Island as a backdrop. According to sources from South Africa, such details indicate the circuit will be built a few kilometers north of Cape Town, close to Milnerton, in the vicinity to an industrial park. That will have the advantage, compared to Kyalami, of being located close to the Cape Town International Airport and fed by main roads and public transport for easy access for over the expected daily 100.000 spectators.

The group, however, has not yet announced who are the individuals or companies behind this project, as well as who will design and build the circuit. All the statement added was that, “its team has proven expertise and wherewithal in promoting and running Grand Prix motor races.”
In a couple of days it should be possible to know how many bids the South African government is accepting for this tender, as there’s a new sense of urgency at the top level, given that Rwanda seems to have the money and clearly has the political will to get its own Grand Prix into the calendar as soon as possible.