Kyalami to go under the hammer
The famous racetrack will be sold at auction for a minimum price of R200 million.
CAPE TOWN - Kyalami racetrack, which hosted Formula One Grand Prix races for nearly two decades, is to be sold on auction with a minimum price of R200 million.
The famed circuit sits on a 72 hectare site north of Johannesburg, with some potential buyers interested in developing around the track.
"If a developer buys it, obviously it will change the nature of Kyalami quite considerably, because there will probably no longer be a track," said Lance Chalwin-Mitton of the High Street Auction Company.
The 4,26km circuit hosted Formula One Grand Prix races from 1967 up until 1985, when it was cut from the world championship calendar as part of the boycotts against the apartheid regime.
Local hero and former Formula One world champion Jody Scheckter won the South African Grand Prix there in 1975.
Formula One returned to the track in 1992 and 1993, but the bankruptcy of a sponsor put an end to the programme.
Frenchman Alain Prost was the last winner at Kyalami in 1993.
Alain Prost (car number 2) on his way to winning the 1993 Kyalami Grand Prix. Picture: Classic Formula 1 Facebook Page.
The circuit hosted its last international competition in May 2010, with the sixth race of the World Superbike Championship.
It is now being sold because of the liquidation of the company which owned the property.
"We are pretty confident it will exceed the reserve price," Chalwin-Mitton said.
The sale will be held on Thursday at 12pm in Johannesburg.
