No income for EL grand prix circuit
EL circuit is the only motor racing track in the country operating “totally unsponsored”
Border Motorsport and the East London Grand Prix Circuit might be among the institutions hardest hit by the Covid19 outbreak and the consequent lockdown.
The East London circuit, birthplace of grand prix racing in SA, is the only motor racing track in the country that operates “totally unsponsored” and relies on income from race days and renting the facility out for functions, all of which have been cancelled due to the national lockdown.
Border Motorsport Club chairman, Andrew Karshagen and the club’s public relations officer, Dave Kirkman said that they had already cancelled one event that was supposed to take place on April 4.
“We [Border Motorsport] have already cancelled one race meeting and will probably have to cancel another one set to take place on May 16 because we have no idea how long the lockdown will go on for. We are taking a substantial hit as we rely on race days to be able to pay our staff and our BCM [water, electricity and rates] account.
“East London [grand prix circuit] will be the hardest hit because we don’t have industry involved here. We are the only circuit in the country that is totally unsponsored. There’s no income at all for us because we can’t even rent the place out for functions. So we will have to do some other kind of fundraising,” said Karshagen.
He said that they had started the season taking a financial hit when the Extreme Festival of Motorsport was moved to another city by Motorsport SA (MSA). “That’s the biggest event for us and brings in the most money,” added Karshagen.
Kirkman said motorsport events globally had been cancelled by the international body for motorsport, the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile and in turn the South African body, had done the same.
Kirkman said that they only have one permanent office worker and a few maintenance staff but he was worried about their salaries if the lockdown and effects of the coronavirus persisted.
“We can get through one month without an income or events but after that we will have to apply to the department of sports for funding to go on. This does not only affect us but also the tourism industry as our races, regional or national, bring in a lot of tourists [who come to race and support the racing],” said Kirkman.
He said it also affected the upgrading of the Waterworld complex just off the grand prix circuit and the road that the circuit shared with the water park.
Karshagen said that they made on average R70,000 for events held at this time of the year and missed out on that revenue with the cancellation of the April event.
“I can see competitors being hit by the coronavirus lockdown as well because it takes money to drive to the various cities to take part in the events, but they might also not have received salaries [or been paid a smaller salary],” Karshagen said.
Kirkman said that they hoped to be operational by April 20 so that they could organise the Border Karting event for May 2 and the regional race scheduled for May 16.
“We will officially be in crisis mode if we’re not operating by April 20,” said Kirkman.