Cape Town wants to host a Formula One Grand Prix on a new 5,3 kilometre street circuit that will take in some of the city’s most recognisable land marks including the Table Bay Harbour and the V&A Waterfront.
Plans for the street circuit were unveiled in Cape Town yesterday and the Cape Town Grand Prix Bid Company plans to present these plans to F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone before the start of the current season, which kicks off with the Bahrain grand prix in March.
The bid company was formed in 2007 by Capetonian Igshaan Amlay who spent 12 years researching plans for a grand prix in the city. According to Esther Henderson, chief communications officer for the bid company the Cape Town grand prix has been modelled on the famous Monaco race.
If the project gets the go-ahead from Ecclestone the first race could be held in 2013. The costs of setting up a new street circuit in Cape Town are enormous as are the costs associated with getting all the teams into the city for the event.
The route for the new track would run through parts of Sea Point, Green Point and Mouille Point, taking in the Cape Town stadium where the circuit start and finish lines would be centred.
The bid company has apparently held talks with the City of Cape Town, the Western Cape provincial government, Motorsport South Africa, Cape Town Tourism and the Minister of Sport, Fikile Mbalula.
There are apparently three different companies in Cape Town that are pushing to host a grand prix in the city with plans for a new track at Atlantis and on vacant land near the Cape Town airport.
The costs of building a brand new track are estimated at about R4-billion while the costs of upgrading Cape Town’s streets to meet the FIA’s standards were estimated at about R100-million. At this stage it’s not clear how much the bid company would have to pay to Ecclestone for the rights to host the event.
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