Daily Dispatch

EL Grand Prix themed events set for vibrant future

After excitement of seeing historic cars in action big plans on cards

- ROSS ROCHE rossr@dispatch.co.za

After a successful South African Historic Grand Prix over the past weekend Border Motorsport are excited for the future internatio­nal themed events that are set for the East London track.

With many motor heads witnessing a once-in-a-lifetime experience at the track over the past weekend, seeing the prewar cars that raced in the SA Grand Prix from 1934-1939 in action was a special experience for many.

Now more exciting events are being planned for the next few years.

“I think they are going to build on this, because next year it will be a Sports and G T Classic event where they are going to do 3,000km through South Africa and visit five race tracks in the country, of which one will be East London,” said Border Motorsport PR Dave Kirkman.

“So I think what we saw this past weekend has really set the benchmark. People now know that these guys can pull off a well organised event, so it is going to be interestin­g to see.

“I think they are pre-1976 Sports and GT cars that have been invited to next year’s event, and that will be very exciting to see.”

Patrick Gearing, from Meropa, who provided the PR work for the organisers, UKbased Speedstrea­m Events, said EL was in for another cracking event, but did not want to delve into the details too early.

“There is a different kind of event planned next year. It will be for a different period of cars and will be in a slightly different type of format, but it will also be a mixture of local entrants and overseas participan­ts who will bring there cars,” said Gearing.

Border Motorsport were thrilled with the way everything turned out over the past weekend and believe that these events will put East London firmly on the internatio­nal motorsport map.

“It was a great success because of the interactio­n we had with the internatio­nal visitors. They were pretty blown away that we still had a circuit that had the same look and feel and still 80% of the original circuit,” said Kirkman.

“They were also amazed at how picturesqu­e it is with the beautiful Indian Ocean and that sort of amphitheat­re where it is located. The weather was good. They were just so excited.

“Also for the competitor­s and the teams that came it was really an amazing experience, from the feedback that I got.

“We had people from the ages of 20 right up until over 80 and 90 that were there, so it was a wonderful experience for everyone.”

The final event on the motorsport calendar for the EL Grand Prix track will now take place on December 15, when the oldest race in the country, the annual Border 1000, is battled out.

I think they are pre-1976 Sports and GT cars that have been invited

 ?? Picture: MADELEINE CHAPUT ?? LIGHTING UP THE TRACK: One of the historic cars that was in action around the East London race circuit in the SA Historic Grand Prix held over the past weekend.
Picture: MADELEINE CHAPUT LIGHTING UP THE TRACK: One of the historic cars that was in action around the East London race circuit in the SA Historic Grand Prix held over the past weekend.

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