10 years of the updated Kyalami
For many, Kyalami is the symbol of South African racing heritage. It was a track that saw Formula One world champions battle head-to-head and hosted many memories for South Africans on and off the track. Toby Venter, a former racing driver and successful businessman in the automotive industry, saved this illustrious circuit from disappearing from the racing world.
To understand why Toby’s influence on this beloved track deserves to be celebrated, let’s dive into the history of this iconic loop. Kyalami began its life in 1961, located between Johannesburg and Pretoria, and grew rapidly in popularity. International teams saw Kyalami as a better alternative to European racing due to its consistently pleasant weather, particularly in the winter.
The 9-hour endurance race was one of the first large-scale events held at the track, which was shortly followed by the arrival of Formula One in South Africa in 1967. Kyalami was a 4.104-kilometre track that wrapped its way around Midrand and often saw around 100,000 spectators at its larger events. Kyalami was South Africa’s home for international racing until 1988. During this period, it garnered a ranking among the world’s top ten best tracks.
Unfortunately, in 1989, half of the Kyalami property was sold off, forcing a track rearrangement. This second version of Kyalami ran anti-clockwise and had a length of 3.888 km. Unfortunately, many believed the track had lost its mystique. Kyalami chose to keep the back section of the track from sunset to Esses, which remains unchanged even today.
Formula One returned in 1992 and 1993, as did another track reconfiguration. The pitlane, previously positioned before sunset, has now moved to its current location, and the track has been lengthened to 4.246km. After its moment in the F1 spotlight, Kyalami continued to be the showground for many local motorsport moments, and then again returned to international racing with the World Superbike Championship from 1998 to 2002. A chicane was added before the last corner to slow pit entry speeds in 1994, but ahead of the 2009 WSBK, it was removed after being greatly criticised.
After international racing departed in 2010, Kyalami went into decline, and SA’s beloved racetrack was threatened to be replaced. Toby Venter, who envisioned restoring the iconic circuit to its former glory, made the winning bid when the track went up for auction on July 24th, 2014.
In 2015, Kyalami went through a fantastic redesign project with a new track layout and new surface to transform Kyalami into the FIA Grade 2 track, as we know it today. The pit building was redeveloped, as were many other facilities for spectators. The addition of a skid pan and dynamic handling track further adds to the Kyalami experience, and as a result, the new Kyalami is a world-class racing facility.
It was vital that Kyalami’s rich heritage didn’t end in 2014, and with a passion for racing at its heart, the new Kyalami deserves to be celebrated, and hopefully we will see Formula One return to our race hub shortly.
