South Africa ready for A1GP on 29 January

Published on 18 January 2006 by Thorsten Hendriks

On 29 January the A1GP series start up again after a month-and-a-half break. Durban is the next race, it is in the South African province of Kwazulu-Natal. At the moment they are still working very hard on the new (street)circuit. It was only realised in a few months, but the are only able to dot the i's and cross the t's on Thursday evening, just before the Friday practice sessions, which is common with streetcircuits. This is the only race on the A1GP calander which is not held at an established race circuit.

The circuit is nearly ready, with sea view
This region has had to wait a long time for an international race. The last time Kwazulu-Natal was host to a race was in the ealry eighties: a sportscar race on the Roy Hesketh circuit in Pietermaritzburg. The new circuit, close to the sea front, has only nine corners and five straights. According to the A1GP organisation it will be one of the fastest circuits of this seasion.

The ticketprices are being kept reasonably low in an effort to attract as many race fans as possible. The cheapest ticket is under 10 Euro and the most expensive ones will exchange hands for about 50-60 Euro. The third place of South African Stephen Simpson in Dubai might boost the spectatornumbers even more, at least that is what the organisation expects.

Thorsten Hendriks