Rallycross comes to Africa
MOTHER CITY: KILLARNEY CIRCUIT TO HOST A ROUND OF THE INTERNATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
‘It is very important for us to come to SA. We felt the country was right for a World Championship.’
Plans for this year’s season-ending round of the 2017 World Rallycross Championship at the Western Cape Killarney circuit are progressing very smoothly.
Killarney presented its rallycross circuit to the sport’s international administrators and the media last week. Present were World Rallycross managing director Paul Bellamy, current World Rallycross champion Petter Solberg, plus reigning RX2 champion Cyril Raymond.
The Cape Town leg of the World Rallycross title chase is the only new addition to the rallycross calendar in 2017 and marks the first time the World Championship has visited Africa.
The new rallycross circuit at Killarney is about a third of the size of the main one, and is twisty in nature, with a jump.
The gravel and asphalt track will use sections of the existing circuit between Turn 2 (Engen Corner) and Turn 3 (Rose Foundation Corner).
Several low level grandstands around the stock car oval have been demolished and will be replaced by larger structures.
A grass bank for spectators is under construction.
International drivers Solberg and Raymond sampled the track in an RX2 Ford Fiesta, and professed to like it.
Solberg said: “We have a passion for coming to new places, driving at new circuits; I’m very happy to come here.
“It is fantastic that the World Championship is coming to a new continent. The track looks very technical in places, and is all about being flat out.
“My father-in-law drove some rallies in South Africa in the 1980s, so it is quite interesting for me.
“We will be bringing 150 people from Scandinavia to experience this part of the world again.”
Also in attendance was local rally driver Jon Williams – the only South African to contest a full World Rally Championship campaign – who announced he would compete in front of his home crowd in November in an OMSE RX Supercar.
The 34-year-old commented: “This is a dream come true. I have come from track racing to rallying, and now rallycross. I can’t wait to compete in front of my home crowd.”
Deputy executive mayor for the City of Cape Town, Alderman Ian Neilson, said: “With World Rallycross, we really have an event of great value and international exposure coming to our city.
“To have a five-year deal in place is fantastic and means we’ll be really able to build the brand here in Cape Town.
“The economic benefit will help the country. I think the television and international media coverage is where the real value lies, which will really help to put Cape Town on the map.”
World Rallycross boss Bellamy said: “It is very important for us to come to South Africa.
“This is the only FIA World Championship to have a round staged in sub-Saharan African.
“We felt the country was right for a World Championship – I can not think of any better place in the world to visit in November than Cape Town.”
The Western Cape had its first taste of international Formula One racing when the non-championship Cape Grand Prix was held at Killarney back in 1960.
Since then, the complex has grown and hosts several forms of main circuit racing as well as motocross, karting, stock cars and drag racing.