A second consortium is bidding to bring Formula 1 to an airfield-based racetrack facility in Cape Town in South Africa.
Faltering efforts to revive the South African Grand Prix are continuing, with a bid from a second consortium in Cape Town confirming its intentions to meet with Formula One Management (FOM) over the weekend of the Italian Grand Prix regarding proposals for a race at the Wingfield Airbase.
A second Cape Town consortium outlines F1 Grand Prix bid
PlanetF1.com can reveal another candidate has thrown its hat in the ring to attempt to revive the South African Grand Prix after more than 30 years, with a consortium in Cape Town outlining its plans.
In July, South Africa’s Department of Sports, Arts and Culture (DSAC) dissolved its Bid Steering Committee (BSC) as Minister Gayton McKenzie led the selection of a potential promoter for a Grand Prix in the country following an expressions of interest (EOI) phase.
Three bids were confirmed as received and, while the details of the selected bid were not made public, PlanetF1.com understands that a project involving the Kyalami Circuit, which hosted the most recent South African Grand Prix in 1993, is the leading candidate.
However, as revealed in August by PlanetF1.com, it’s understood that FOM is unconvinced of the projects’ abilities or financial backing, as well as being unconvinced by any of the current South African bids.
While the leading project, headed by CEO of the Kyalami 9 Hours Tom Pearson-Adams, is the one selected by McKenzie, it’s understood there is no governmental guarantee behind the bid, a major stumbling block as FOM strongly desires, if not makes mandatory, such guarantees.
Now, a new consortium, named the Cape Town F1 City Development Consortium (CTF1CDC) and led by chairperson Matthews MK Malefane, has emerged to stake a claim for the lead South African bid, even without the backing of Minister McKenzie, and says it intends to meet with FOM at the Italian Grand Prix on Thursday.
This consortium is entirely separate from the Cape Town Grand Prix South Africa (CTGPSA) project, which has already been critical of McKenzie’s bid process.
The emergence of this project would suggests Pearson-Adams’ Kyalami bid, the CTGPSA bid, and the CTF1CDC bid are the three that were tabled with the BSC.
However, the South African delegation for CTF1CDC won’t be at Monza in person and, instead, claims it will be represented by its technical partners at Silverstone Global, who are said to have met, virtually, with the consortium and South African provincial government ministers on Monday.
Documentation, which has been seen by PlanetF1.com, indicates that Malefane and his delegation have been invited to Silverstone in mid-September in order to carry out meetings regarding potential collaboration on the F1 project, including aspects such as track design, project development, and operational planning.
Following this, the consortium intends to travel to the Singapore Grand Prix next month for a formal media announcement, with an invitation extended to Lewis Hamilton to become an ambassador for the project.
Further documentation claims it will have its full planning, feasibility studies, and bid proposal completed and submitted to FOM by October 2025, with hopes of being approved by November 2025.
The Cape Town F1 City development outlines ideas for urban renewal projects including a new residential and recreational hub, a new commercial regional airport with a runway for wide-body jets, a double-track monorail from the waterfront to the F1 City facility, as well as hubs for cargo, industry, and passenger transport.
A render of the proposed Cape Town F1 City proposal.
“We are confident that we shall receive confirmation from the F1 authorities of decision to award the F1 license to our Cape Town F1 City Development around October 2025 after we have submitted our F1 bid and when we would have only then approached you to become our partners,” Malefane wrote in a letter to leading figures from companies linked with providing the financial backing for the Kyalami effort.
These include potential private-sector businesses and investors such as MTN, MultiChoice, Heineken, and billionaire Johnn Rupert.
“We also need to inform and caution you of the fact that you have been misinformed of Kyalami’s chances of winning the F1 license, and are ready to meet with you physically or virtually.”
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