Too rich for our blood?  Pic Tony Alves

16/07/10  In the wake of the very successful 2010 FIFA World Cup and SASCOC’s announcement to oversee a bid for the 2020 Olympic Games, the controlling body of motorsport in the country, Motorsport South Africa (MSA) has positioned itself early towards the hosting of a F1 Grand Prix in the country.

MSA through its Managing Director, Francois Pretorius and re-iterated by the Chairman of the Board of Directors, Dr George Nyabadza, confirmed that it would support the hosting of a F1 event in the country with very clear provisions.

Dr Nyabadza shared the sentiment of millions of F1-fans that it would be wonderful to have F1 back in South Africa. He however made it clear that one of the conditions should be around the number of South Africans on the grid or at least with the opportunity, based on skill, to get there. “F1 enjoys very little support in countries where there is no representation. Only when we can wave our rainbow flag will there be public interest and national unity.” Another condition he would like to see included would be very clear provisions of how much money would be generated for motorsport development, particularly in the female segment and the black youth segments of South Africa. It would be irresponsible, he said, to host an F1 race and not have the stakeholders invest a portion of the proceeds in these segments. ”There would be no legacy for the sport.”

He said a very realistic economic impact study needed to be done to weigh up the tangible benefits against the substantial costs, especially considering the maximum stay by foreign visitors is now on average three nights for a F1 event. This would however, be the domain of national government and sponsors.

Francois Pretorius said any F1 event in South Africa would need to be inscribed onto the FIA calendar by MSA. The MSA Board’s current position is that it would only support the hosting of such an event in South Africa if it provided concrete benefits to the grassroots development of motorsport, which would happen under the auspices of MSA. He added that the immediate socio-economic priorities in the country outweighed the possible long-term benefits of hosting the event unless a cogent and sustainable plan of sport development was provided for.
Both Dr. Nyabadza and Francois Pretorius agree that the MSA Board would seriously consider support for any bidders prepared to factor these provisions into their proposal.