Start your engines! And go the other way...

DESPITE Ferrari’s unexpected victory in the recent Singapore GP, the hottest motorsport news in this southwestern tip of Africa at the moment is tomorrow’s opening meeting on what is effectively going to be a new circuit at Killarney.

Because unlike ball games (except cricket to an extent), where the grounds all adhere to the same measurements despite the “home ground advantage” talk we always hear, motorsport is literally a different ball game.

The Killarney organisers have achieved their change by reversing the direction of travel and adding one or two other twists.

And they were delighted with the success of their totally different layout after the first official practice session this past weekend.

Of course a recurring urban legend has it that Edgar Hoal – who was a professional roads engineer as well as one of the country’s leading racing drivers – intended the circuit to be run in this direction when he first began designing it in the late 1950s.

However although it remains a popular braai-fire topic, there is nothing to substantiate the claim.

That aside, the huge advantage tomorrow is that all the essential facilities are already in place.

The track is there and competitors are going to start from behind the same line – but move off in the opposite direction.

The pits will remain operative and the grandstands are still in the best positions.

The main difference is that a chicane – or artificial double corner – similar to those at the Monza Autodrome, home of the Italian Grand Prix, has been added near the entrance to the banked Cape Town Corner (Turn 5).

Drivers and riders will now have to swing right, then left and slightly right again before entering the tight hairpin bend.

Spectators are going to benefit from the availability of a small grandstand that is already in the area to handle what should be one of the most exciting viewing areas on the complex.

From an off-track point of view a tremendous amount of work has gone into ensuring the safety of the complex in its new format and it has been checked and approved by the national controlling body Motorsport South Africa (MSA).

Changes that have been made include the repositioning and replacement of long sections of steel Armco railing, as well as more flexible tyre barriers. Several of the marshals’ signalling positions have also been relocated.

Early tests indicate that the track may be even quicker and more exciting than in its original format, once the competitors get used to it.

However a new circuit will always benefit the more experienced drivers initially.

One of the best in this regard is likely to be Steve Humble who was formerly a leading British sports car exponent who competed at numerous different venues in the UK.

Then there’s Craig Jarvis who is currently racing a Porsche GT3 in the Swiss Championship in Europe and was recently in devastating form in his huge V10 Dodge Viper, in a sports car endurance race in East London.