At a very tense auction held earlier today in Gauteng the iconic Kyalami racetrack went under the hammer. The early bidders went straight for the kill -the opening bid was the reserve price of R200 million.
It was a two horse race with only one other contender coming to the fore (he would turn out to put in the winning bid), and by telephone no less, of R205 million.
The mystery man on the other end of the line was Chief Executive Officer of Porsche South Africa Toby Venter, who was attending the local media launch of the Porsche Macan in Cape Town.
“Porsche SA has purchased Kyalami and it will be preserved as a racetrack going forward. Further details will follow in time,” Porsche SA spokesman Christo Kruger confirmed a few minutes after the auction ended.
The 4,24-km of Midrand circuit has played host to most South African Formula One Grands Prix, Motorcycle Grands Prix, SBK and countless local races, not to mention car launches and at least one CAR Performance Shootout.
Petrolheads all over SA must be relieved to hear that SA’s most famous piece of blacktop will be preserved and not turned into a housing estate or business park.
