KYALAMI THROUGH THE AGES

Sources: Roberts Bird Guide by Hugh Chittenden; video.nationalgeographic.com; audubon.org;

On 4 November 1961, the Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit in what was then the Transvaal hosted its first event: a gruelling nine-hour endurance race in which John Love and Dawie Gous won, driving a Porsche 550

Spyder – the same model racing car in which James Dean had met his grim fate in 1955. Over the course of the next two decades, Kyalami’s renown as a high-speed track drew competitors from all over the world. South Africa’s warm climate made Kyalami’s anticlockwise 4,1 km track a popular choice to kick off the racing year and an ideal testing venue for drivers from Europe who couldn’t compete on their home turf during the wet winter months.

Translated from isiZulu, Kyalami ( iKhaya lami) means “my home”, and like our beloved country, it has had its fair share of ups and downs.

In 1967, Kyalami hosted its first World Championship Formula 1 race, which secured its spot on the international circuit. Between 1967 and 1985, a total of 18 rounds of the F1 World Championship were hosted at Kyalami. The nine-hour endurance race continued for a few years until it was cancelled for financial reasons. (It resurfaced in 2019, after being absent from the calendar for more than 30 years.) The original design of the track was infamous for its long straight and its fast back section, which enabled racers to pick up headspinning speed. In 1985, British racing legend Nigel Mansell set the lap record on the old track, with an estimated top speed of 340 km/h down the main straight.

During the 1970s, Kyalami drew close to 100 000 spectators at a time. This was when the track was rural and isolated, before the surrounding area was developed.

Motoring journalist Stuart Johnson first went to Kyalami as a boy of 10. “Those were the days when festivals like Woodstock were happening in other parts of the world, and Kyalami had a similar feel. Guys would fill their car boots with beer and ice, pack a tent and go camping next to the track for the weekend. It was good fun.”

Fan-favourite corners included Barbeque, Crowthorne, Clubhouse, Jukskei, Leeukop and Sunset.

One of many notable races was the 1976 Grand Prix, when Austria’s Niki Lauda beat Britain’s James Hunt by 1,3 seconds. The pair had an epic rivalry, which lasted from 1973 to 1979. (There’s a movie about them called Rush, although freelance motoring editor

Ferdi de Vos says their rivalry has been exaggerated – apparently they were actually good friends off the track.)

Other big names that featured at Kyalami included French legend Alain Prost; Jackie Stewart, nicknamed the Flying Scot; and

Jody Scheckter, who remains the first and only South African driver to win the Kyalami Grand Prix, in 1975, in a Tyrrell 007 Ford Cosworth.

Racing at Kyalami eventually diminished due to trade sanctions imposed on South Africa during apartheid. That, accompanied by rising property costs, led to the sale of the top half of the circuit in 1989, after which a modified circuit was built on a piece of land lower down the hillside.

“The original track was one of the fastest in the world. After it was rebuilt, those who’d known it before felt it had lost its magic as it was now more twisty and slower,” says De Vos. There was one final fling. A new pit complex was added in 1991 and Kyalami hosted two more Grand Prix rounds, in 1992 and 1993. Thereafter, support continued to dwindle and the property was eventually put up for auction in 2014. When the gavel fell, it was none other than Toby Venter – owner of Porsche

South Africa – who bought the property for R205 million.

Since Venter’s purchase, the track has been resurfaced and the layout modified to its current length of 4,5 km. Other upgrades include added safety features, a refurbished pit building and spectator areas, as well as an upgraded exhibition and conferencing area. “Toby saved Kyalami from becoming a business park,” says De Vos. “Fifty years from now, it will be his legacy.”

While international authorities would like to bring F1 back to Kyalami, De Vos believes that Venter has different priorities. “First and foremost, he wants to re-establish the ninehour endurance race and allow the event to gain traction on the international stage.” Although it hasn’t always been smooth sailing, Kyalami is a true South African story of beating the odds.

Thanks to Kim McCarthy from Gallo Images for her help in sourcing these photographs.

An aerial photograph of Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit, taken in 2009 before current owner Toby Venter, CEO of Porsche South Africa, started work on modifying the track in 2014.

Clockwise from top left: Englishman John Surtees races a McLaren M7C in 1970. Tyre stock at Kyalami (1978); the two big contenders of the day were Michelin and Goodyear. Jackie Stewart is behind the wheel surrounded by the rest of the Tyrrell team during the mid-70s. Racing cars round a corner during the nine-hour endurance race in 1970, watched by scores of spectators camped out next to the track.