Ecclestone Plans South African GP at Cape Town

South Africa has made an important step into the world of sports by hosting the FIFA World Cup this year. Wanting to build on that success, it seems that the African nation is now trying to get back on the Formula One calendar as well. According to F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone, there is a good chance Cape Town will provide the base for a new South African Grand Prix in the near future.

“We have been talking to the people in South Africa for quite a long time off and on. The chances are OK,” said the 80-year-old back in July, during the course of the FIFA World Cup. And, according to a report from German news agency SID, it seems that those plans have stayed alive and are now centered around the city of Cape Town.

This summer, Ecclestone hinted that a potential date for the return of the South African GP in the Great Circus would be in 2012, but that seems highly unlikely in case plans to organize the event in Cape Town will go forward. And that's because “the feasibility of the project is currently under examination by governmental economic and tourism authorities,” as reported by the aforementioned source.

Additionally, the authorities are still not decided whether to offer the South African Grand Prix on a bespoke circuit or a semi-permanent venue in Cape Town, depending on the costs involved in hosting such an event,

South Africa is no stranger from F1 action, as it used to organize races in the Great Circus ever since 1962 (having been present in the motor racing world ever since 1934). After 5 years, the race was moved from East London to the Kyalami circuit, where it continued to host F1 races until 1993 (between 1986 and 1991, the race was scrapped due to the policy of apartheid in the country). A total of 23 Grands Prix were held at Kyalami over the decades.

PS: And we can no longer have to worry about the famous vuvuzelas, we're pretty sure the sound of F1's V8s can provide a good matchup.