If you thought that sleepy King Williams Town was the last place you would see a high-tech F1 car, you’d be wrong.
If you thought that sleepy King Williams Town was the last place you would see a high-tech F1 car, you’d be wrong.
South Africans have had few opportunities to be exposed to F1 cars since BAR, Jordan and Williams scrapped plans to conduct pre-season test sessions at Kyalami last year. At the Auto Africa motor show in October, there were examples of Ferrari, McLaren-Mercedes, Renault and Williams BMW race cars on display, but only those who were lucky enough to visit Johannesburg at the time could take a close look at the 300 km/h cars.
In stark contrast with the shiny halls and concrete walls of Auto Africa, the Border region of the Eastern Cape isn’t normally associated with the cutting-edge of automotive racing technology. But for the next two weeks, King Williams Town will be the centre of attraction for F1 fans across the entire region.
Rudi Kritz, the owner of a service station in King Williams Town, decided that he would bring a little bit of F1 action to the Eastern Province town by shipping in Michael Schumacher’s championship-winning F-2001 to be displayed at his premises.
According to reports, fans of the German star are flocking to get a glimpse of the famous F-2001, which was designed by Bedfordview-born Rory Byrne, on its display.
“I felt they deserved a look at the real McCoy to increase their passion for the sport and Ferrari,” Kritz was quoted as saying. “Very few people are fortunate enough to be able to go to a grand prix. Television does not really give a true indication of the technical innovations or the compactness of these mean machines.”
