Cape Town to bid for F1 race
Plans are in the pipeline to bring Formula One back to South Africa, but not to its traditional home at the Kyalami circuit.
For some time there have been rumours that the South African Grand Prix could return to the F1 calender, and while the Kyalami circuit - which has hosted the event on 20 occasions - had been suggested as a destination for the race, a new bid to host the race on a street circuit in Cape Town is in the works.
The Cape Town Grand Prix Bid Company have been invited to present their proposal to Bernie Ecclestone in London, potentially before the Bahrain GP.
The planned 5.3km-long circuit will run through the Green Point area of the city, with the track passing the renowned V&A Waterfront and the Green Point Soccer Stadium which hosted a number of games during the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
The Monaco Grand Prix has been used as inspiration for the proposal, with Table Mountain, Lions Head and the Atlantic Ocean providing backdrops for the event.
"Green Point is ideal for a street circuit like the one in Monaco because we have so many beautiful natural sights in the area. So while Monaco is the 'French Riviera' we can have the 'African Riviera' in Cape Town," Esther Henderson, the company's chief communications officer, told the Cape Argus newspaper.
A street circuit has been chosen as the preferred type of track primarily due to financial constraints.
"Our initial estimates showed that building a track could cost as much as $140 million while upgrading existing infrastructure to FIA standard was estimated at a cost of about $1.5 million."
Ecclestone last year expressed a desire to bring F1 to Africa.
"[Africa] is another continent where we should be," said the Briton.
"Hopefully, now people will think what the World Cup has done for Africa would be good for Formula One.
"It would be nice to think we had then more or less covered the world".
South Africa last host a grand prix in 1993 when Alain Prost piloted his Williams to victory at the Kyalami circuit.
Credit: PlanetF1.com (www.planetf1.com)
No comments:
Post a Comment