A group working to bring Formula 1 racing to Cape Town said it will press ahead with plans for a new circuit near the city, even after Rwanda secured a pact to host a Grand Prix.
Blue Mountain Racing is sticking with its target to host an event in 2031, the group said in a statement Wednesday.
“We find Formula 1’s return to Africa encouraging for our own plans,” it said.
“Africa is a continent of more than 50 countries and approximately 1.6 billion people and therefore it has room for more than one Grand Prix,” it said.
Blue Mountain is led by former Sibanye Stillwater Chief Executive Officer Neal Froneman and includes mining veteran Srinivasan Venkatakrishnan and law firm Webber Wentzel’s Robert Appelbaum.
Together with South African entrepreneur Bob Hartslief, they’re planning to build a R6.7 billion motorsport complex in the wheat-growing Swartland region north of Cape Town.
Rwanda’s inaugural race will take place once the purpose-built 6-kilometre circuit in Bugesera has been completed, which is expected to be early in the next decade, according to Formula 1.
The developments will revive the motorsport’s presence on the continent, almost four decades after the last Grand Prix race took place in Africa.
The most recent competition was in 1993 at the Kyalami Raceway, north of Johannesburg in South Africa. Frenchman Alain Prost won.
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